The VC baseball team was on the short end and on the long end of a pair of blow-outs Thursday afternoon with visiting Bakersfield College at Pirate Park. Ventura dropped Game 1 of the twin-bill 8-1 in seven innings before coming back to defeat the Renegades 11-2 in the nightcap. Lead-off man Chase McBean had three hits and scored four runs with a run batted in on the day.
Ventura 1, Bakersfield 8, 7 innings
The Pirates fell behind early and never recovered in Game 1 of Thursday's double-header. The Renegades scored four runs in the second inning, another in the third, and two more in the fourth for a 7-0 lead before Ventura got on the board.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, McBean singled to lead thins off and moved to third one out later when Elijah Maris singled and went to second on an error. Max Baldaccini then reached on a fielder's choice that scored McBean.
Bakersfield added one more run in the sixth to set the final 8-1 margin.
Max Flame took the loss in the start on the mound for Ventura while Trevor Foster and Anthony Betancourt each threw a scoreless inning of relief. Travis Nelson yielded one unearned run in two innings of work with three strikeouts.
Ventura 11, Bakersfield 2
VC came back with a solid effort in the nightcap to defeat the Renegades 11-2. McBean and Maris each had two hits while Maris and JR Godinez each knocked in two runs. Garrick Levesque and Baldaccini each went yard in the victory for the Pirates.
Ventura manufactured a run in the bottom of the first inning. McBean led off with a single and moved to second on an error. Godinez was forced out a first, moving McBean to third base before Maris hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score the game's first run.
Bakersfield scored once in the top of the third before the Pirates scored three more runs in the bottom half of the inning. Connor Laeng singled, stole second and advanced to third on a balk one out later. McBean followed with an RBI single, and he also stole second. Godinez then doubled home McBean and scored on a wild pitch one batter later.
The Pirates broke the game open with a four-run fourth. Baldaccini got it started with a one-out home run followed by walk to Ramon Torres and Laeng. Anthony Chavez followed with an RBI single before back-to-back walks to McBean and Godinez scored another run. After a pitching change, Maris hit a sacrifice fly to center for an 8-1 Pirate advantage.
VC added single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh to set the final score. Levesque scored on a sacrifice fly by Torres in the fifth and McBean scored on a balk after drawing a base on balls in the sixth, moving to third on a single by Maris. Levesque scored the final run when he led off the bottom of the seventh with a home run to set the final score in the 11-2 win.
Jake Read pitched well, throwing six complete innings and allowing two runs, one earned. Oscar Magana, Dawson Radik and Josiah Blatt each followed with a scoreless inning of work to preserve the win.
Ventura next travels to Bakersfield on Saturday May 15 for a double-dip with the Renegades.