Gaucho pitching shuts down Vaqueros

The Saddleback baseball team improved to 5-0 on the season with a 4-0 win over Santa Barbara City College on Friday afternoon at Doug Fritz Field.  The Gaucho pitching staff held the Vaqueros to just three hits on the day.

Saddleback's Daniel Harris and Brendan Mascle combined for a three-hitter on Friday, striking out six along the way.  Harris started and went five innings in picking up his first win of the season before turning the ball over to Mascle in the sixth inning.  Mascle pitched the final four innings, surrendering only two hits while striking out two.

Saddleback exploded for three runs in the opening inning.  With one out, Spencer Heinsius singled to start the rally.  Tyler Clark then singled to right field, moving Heinsius over to third base.  Both players then advanced on a passed ball by catcher Mitchell Sancier, giving the Gauchos a 1-0 lead.  With two outs in the inning, Adam Gordon singled up the middle to score Clark and the Gaucho lead was 2-0.  Erik Voller followed with a double to right field and the lead was extended 3-0.

Saddleback added an insurance run in the eighth inning when Clark singled home Brett Auerbach for a 4-0 lead.  It was Clark's third hit of the game, putting his season batting average at .611 through five games.

Saddleback is now 5-0 on the season and will face Santa Barbara again on Saturday in the final game of the series.  The Gauchos and Vaqueros are scheduled to throw out the first pitch at 12:00 PM.