Baseball Wins Second Straight in Bakersfield Tourney

Bryson Wallet had four hits, Elijah Alexander and Kaden Betsch each had two-RBI singles and Justin Friedman gave up four runs over six innings in his Pirate debut as Ventura defeated Feather River College 10-4 Saturday in Bakersfield. Betsch totaled three RBI on the day and Shane Gipson also knocked in two runs in the victory for VC (2-0).

For the second straight day, Ventura fell behind early, giving up two ruins to the Golden Eagles in the bottom of the first inning.  The Pirates came right back, however, with two runs in the top of the second as Betsch's double scored Alexander and Gipson singled in Nick Bero.

VC broke the game open with four runs in the top of the third inning. Blake Chiaramonte had a one-out single and moved to second on Brendan Griffith's base hit. Wallet had an RBI single followed by a walk by Alexander, setting up Betsch's two-RBI single.  Gipson finished the inning with an RBI single and the Pirated led 6-2.

Ventura added two more runs in the fourth before giving up single ruins in the fifth and sixth.  VC closed out the scoring with two more runs in the seventh to set the final margin.

Friedman picked up the win, giving up six hits and four runs over six complete with nine strikeouts. The VC bullpen combination of Kodi Koorndyk, Jackson Hickert and Brent Dickey pitched three scoreless innings to preserve the win.

Ventura closes out its three-game stay in Bakersfield on Sunday Dec. 29 against Fullerton.  First pitch is scheduled for 11:00 am.