Ventura Walks Off Riverside 8-7 With Ninth-Inning Rally

The VC baseball team erased a late two-run deficit with a three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth to walk off Riverside, 8-7, on Friday afternoon at Pirate Park. Brandon Contreras had a ninth-inning RBI double and scored the game-tying run in the rally while Lucas Martinov had a pair of hits, including a double, with two runs scored and a run batted in against the Tigers. Connor Jacobson and Nicholas Tostado shared duties on the mound to keep the Pirates within striking distance.

Trailing 7-5 after Riverside's three-run surge in the eighth, the Pirates manufactured one more answer in their final at-bat. Ventura pushed across three runs in the ninth to flip the score and close out an 8-7 victory, finishing off a back-and-forth contest in which both teams held multi-run leads. The win capped a game-long battle of momentum swings that started with Ventura controlling the early innings before Riverside clawed back.

Ventura built its initial cushion with steady offense in the early frames. The Pirates struck for a run in the first inning, then opened up a 4-0 advantage with a three-run second. After Riverside briefly seized the momentum with three runs in the third to cut the deficit to 4-3, VC responded in the fourth with another tally for a 5-3 lead. That early production helped the Pirates overcome a later rough patch defensively that included four errors.

The visitors scored once in the fifth to pull within 5-4, then delivered what looked like a decisive blow in the eighth. A three-run frame put Riverside in front 7-5, its first lead of the afternoon, and set the stage for a dramatic finish.

Pirate starter Jacobson kept the Pirates in front through the middle innings before turning it over to the bullpen. Jacobson worked 5.0 innings, allowing seven hits and four runs (three earned) with two walks and one strikeout. Right-hander N. Tostado handled the final 4.0 innings and earned the win, scattering six hits and three earned runs with one walk and two strikeouts as he held Riverside in check long enough for the offense to respond in the ninth.

Offensively, Ventura collected 11 hits and capitalized when it mattered most. Martinov led the way at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double, two runs scored and one RBI, helping drive the early surge and staying in the middle of the action as the Pirates closed it out. Despite stranding six runners overall, Ventura's lineup delivered in key spots in the first, second and decisive ninth innings to offset Riverside's higher hit total.

With the comeback win, the Pirates turned a potential late-inning setback into a statement of resilience at home heading to the second half of the home-and-home set at RCC on Saturday Feb. 14.