VC Takes Series from Oxnard

The Pirate baseball team won their three-game series with Oxnard Saturday with an 8-3 victory over the Condors on the road. Haiden Letzing knocked in three runs and Yuki Kawashima, Jacob Tostado and Henry Borjas all scored twice. Anthony Cuevas came out of the bullpen to retire 13 of 14 batters faced to record the win for Ventura (9-9, 3-5).

The game got off to a quick start as the Pirates plated two runs in the top of the first inning. Kawashima led off the game with a double and Tostado moved him to third with a single. Letzing followed with a groundout to shortstop that scored Kawashima and Peter Dufau doubled home Tostado for the early margin.

Oxnard has a response, however, scoring three runs in the bottom half of the column to hold the 3-2 advantage.

Cuevas came in to pitch with two outs in the bottom of the second and the bases loaded. He induced a fly ball out to left field and the Pirates were out of the jam still down one run.

Ventura took the lead in the top of the fifth with a pair of runs. Borjas and Kawashima each walked to open the frame and moved ahead 90 feet on a balk. Tostado reached first base on an error scoring Borjas and Letzing laid down the sacrifice squeeze bunt scoring Kawashima for a 4-3 score.

Harrison Cordeiro took the hill for the final three innings for the Pirates, allowing just one hit and striking out two.

VC, meanwhile added some insurance in the top of the ninth. 

Aaron McLeod walked and Borjas reached base on an error, and one out later they moved ahead one base on a passed ball. Tostado followed with a walk to load the bases and Letzing hit a single to score one run. With two outs, all the runners moved ahead on a wild pitch with Borjas scoring a run. Then, Bryce Elias made it to first on an error that scored two more runs to set the final 8-3 margin.

Ventura next plays Santa Barbara in a three-game series beginning Tuesday March 12 at Pershing Park in Santa Barbara. VC will host the Vaqueros for two games on March 14 and 16.