Baseball Sweeps Oxnard, Improves to 7-2 in Conference

By Jimmy Friery

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Santa Barbara City College Baseball team (11-9, 7-2) cruised to a sweep of Western State Conference (WSC) foe Oxnard this past week, never trailing at any point across the three games. As things stand, the Vaqueros sit second in the still-early WSC standings, only behind Hancock (5-1) who has played less games.

Tuesday, game one: Santa Barbara 5, Oxnard 1

The lowest-scoring game of the three, Jaxson Hoye set the tone for the week by delivering a gem: seven innings, no runs, three hits, two walks, and eight strikeouts on the way to a home win. It was the second consecutive scoreless outing for the freshman from Santa Cruz.

A double apiece from Ryder Samuels and William Matuszak got the Vaqueros on the board in the third. Sean Asperger's sacrifice fly in the sixth and Wylan Nelson's RBI single in the seventh made it 3-0.

Cooper Tinkey came on for a six-out save, a two-out solo homer in the eighth being the only blemish on his line. The offense gave him some insurance immediately after, anyway, manufacturing two runs. Nicolas Aguirre walked, advanced to second on a balk, stole third, and finally scored on a wild pitch. Then, Damos Deworken was hit by a pitch, stole second, and scored on Matuszak's two-out double to get to the 5-1 final score.

Matuszak (two doubles, two RBIs), Nelson (two hits and a walk), and designated hitter Bradley Cekada all had multi-hit days.

Thursday, game two: Santa Barbara 8, Oxnard 3

Despite more run production in Thursday's road game, the story of the day continued to be the pitching staff. After opener Johnny Harvey navigated around a hit-by-pitch, an error, two walks, and a passed ball allowing just one run in the first, Max Collins threw seven innings—striking out 11—to earn a win in relief. Collins has allowed just two earned runs in his last 18.2 innings across three appearances.  

Harvey and Collins were aided by a four-run top of the first from the offense. Cekada ripped a bases-loaded double to score the first two before Asperger singled the latter two home.

Parker Hellekson's RBI single made it 5-2 in the third, and the score would stay like that for several innings. Finally, in the top of the eighth, Hellekson led off the inning with a triple, followed by a walk from Samuels. Deworken then singled home Hellekson to increase the lead to 6-2. After a sacrifice bunt, Samuels scored on a wild pitch, and Deworken scored on a Nelson sac fly—now 8-2 Vaqueros.

An unearned run in the bottom half made it 8-3, but Cedar Cline pitched a 1-2-3 ninth—with two strikeouts—to clinch the 8-3 Vaquero win.

Cekada and second baseman Lucas Carlisle each had three hits—each with one double. Cole Ide also reached three times via three walks.

Saturday, game three: Santa Barbara 18, Oxnard 1

It is always hard to sweep teams, but the Vaqueros had no trouble in the finale at Pershing Park on Saturday. Wylan Nelson had his weekly unbelievable two-way day, pitching six innings of one-run ball while leading the team with three hits, scoring four runs (tied for the team-lead with Matuszak), and driving in three (only Ide's five were better).

Two batters into the bottom of the first, Nelson singled home Matuszak after the latter singled and stole second. Ide's sac fly resulted in an early 2-0 lead. The Vaqueros added to it by plating six in the third and four in the fourth, bringing the score to a lopsided 12-0.

As the game got away from the visitors, Santa Barbara's bullpen stayed efficient. Darren Orlando, Adam Tripp, and Cooper Moreau combined for the final, scoreless three innings, allowing just one baserunner. The final score was 18-1.

The Vaqueros take a break from WSC play, but will stay sharp playing three non-conference games this coming week. They host Coalinga on Wednesday at 2 p.m. before traveling to Riverside and Santa Ana on Thursday and Friday, respectively. Santa Barbara resumes the typical Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday conference series the following week against Ventura.