Lucido gets four hits in 4-3 win over first-place Ventura

Victoria Lucido went 4-4 with a triple on Thursday as SBCC edged first-place Ventura 4-3 in a WSC Gold softball game at Pershing Park.

Celeste Acosta (8-7) got the win by retiring the last eight batters in order. She gave up three runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and three walks. Acosta, Brianna Portese and Christal Vierra all had RBI singles for the Vaqueros (10-8, 4-2).

It was the first conference loss for the Pirates (11-8-1, 4-1). The top of the WSC Gold Division is tight with Cuesta at 6-1, Hancock 5-1, Ventura 4-1 and the Vaqueros 4-2.

Lucido, a sophomore left-hander from Pacific Grove, Calif., singled to right to lead off the bottom of the first, then scored on a two-out single by Vierra. The inning was extended when Amanda Caras struck out and reached first on a passed ball. Portese drilled a single to left-center, scoring Vierra for a 2-0 lead.

"I felt like I was seeing the ball really well," said Lucido, who made a running catch near the right-field line to end the game. "I knew this was a big game, they were No. 1 in conference. We had to bear down and win this one.

"Everybody came in really prepared. Whenever we're intimidated by a team, that's when we come out and play our best. I feel like we can beat any team in the state as long as we bring our best game."

The Vaqueros extended the lead to 4-0 in the third with a pair of unearned runs off Alex Thorp. Danielle de Castro singled and went to second on a sacrifice by Vierra. Caras reached on an error by the shortstop and De Castro scored. Acosta delivered a two-out single to left to bring in Caras.

Ventura scored twice in the fourth on a two-run single by Emily Heath. The Pirates pulled within one in the fifth when Roxanne Lopez singled and scored on a double by Julia Garcia. Garcia, one of the top hitters in the state, went 2-4 and is batting .524.

Portese made a diving catch of a liner to center by Heath leading off the sixth. Garcia, who has eight homers, came to the plate with two outs in the seventh and hit a deep fly to right that Lucido tracked down for the final out.

"Celeste did a great job on the mound today," said coach Paula Congleton. "It feels good to beat another undefeated WSC team. Now, if we can just start playing this way in our nonconference games.

"We're going to use this weekend to see some really good pitching and get as many at-bats as we can, so we'll  be ready when we get back to conference next week."

The Vaqueros will play four games in the Bakersfield Tournament this weekend. On Saturday, they'll take on Cerritos and No. 11 Riverside at 2 and 4 p.m. On Sunday, they'll battle Saddleback at 10 a.m. and host Bakersfield at noon.