Baseball falls to Santa Barbara after early three-run inning

Ventura fell behind in the first inning and never recovered Thursday, dropping an 8-1 road decision to Santa Barbara at Pershing Park. Santa Barbara scored three times in the opening inning, then kept adding on to hand the Pirates the loss. Lucas Martinov doubled and Mario Franco followed with an RBI single in the fifth inning for VC's lone run of the game.

That early cushion set the tone for the afternoon. SBCC added another run in the third inning, then broke the game open further with two more in the sixth. The home team also scored once in the seventh and once in the eighth, finishing with 14 hits and taking advantage of steady offensive pressure throughout the game.

Ventura's lone breakthrough came in the fifth inning, when Franco delivered an RBI to bring home the Pirates' only run and cut the deficit to 4-1. Ventura finished with five hits, two walks and five runners left on base.

Connor Jacobson took the loss for Ventura after pitching 4 2/3 innings. He allowed four runs, all earned, on nine hits with two walks and two strikeouts. 

The Pirates and Vaqueros will conclude their three-game set on Saturday March 28 in Santa Barbara.