Baseball downs Santa Barbara in game one

The Saddleback baseball team defeated Santa Barbara City College, 5-3, in game one of a three-game set on Thursday night at Doug Fritz Field.  The Gauchos remain undefeated at 4-0 heading into Friday's game.

Saddleback took a 2-0 lead in the second inning when Spencer Heinsius doubled down the left field line to bring home Andrew Wilson and Zack Bowman.  The Gauchos never allowed the Vaqueros to get back to even as the pitching staff did the rest.  It was one of three hits on the day for Heinsius, who later singled home Wilson for a 4-1 lead.  The freshman from Tesoro High School finished 3-for-4 with three RBI as the Gauchos outhit Santa Barbara 8-5 for the night.

Saddleback's pitching staff was solid, including a great start from Chase Lyford.  The sophomore struck out six Vaqueros over six innings in improving to 2-0 on the season.  Bradley Spooner was again tough in the ninth inning when he came in to pick up the save.  Spooner struck out two in the inning and has now struck out eight batters in 3.2 innings of work for the year.

Saddleback is now 4-0 on the season and is scheduled to play Santa Barbara again on Friday and Saturday, weather permitting.  The first pitch on Friday is scheduled for 2:00 PM.