Pirate Baseball Pounds Out 18 Hits in Victory

The Ventura College baseball team pounded 18 hits in defeating Pasadena City College on the road Saturday afternoon. Chris McKee was 4-5 with a double, two runs scored, two runs batted in and a stolen base in leading the offensive onslaught for the orange and black. TJ Foreman had three hits, two runs scored and one RBI while Eric Thrower recorded a pair of doubles for VC (2-1). Starting pitcher Blake Campbell gave up two runs over five innings to pick up the win and the bullpen threw four scoreless frames.

Ventura got off to a fast start, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning. Steele Ledford opened the game with a single, and McKee also singled to advance Ledford to second. Rudy Aguilar followed with an RBI double, scoring Ledford and advancing McKee to third. Dayton Provost grounded out, scoring McKee and advancing Aguilar, who then scored on a wild pitch.

The Pirates got another run in the second inning when McKee singled in TJ Foreman for a 4-0 advantage.

The Lancers scored one in the bottom of the third, and VC returned the favor in the top of the fourth. Eric Thrower doubled to lead off the frame, moved to third on a wild pitch, then scored on Ledford's single.

PCC got a run back in the sixth inning, and the Pirates scored two more in the eighth. With one out, Foreman singled then stole a base, and advanced to third on a fly ball. McKee produced the run-scoring infield single, and he scored two batters later on a single by Provost.

The Pirates added an insurance run in the ninth when Shane Gipson scored on a Foreman single.

Campbell scattered seven hits and gave up two runs over his five complete innings of work on the mound. Damien Lung, Sal Delgado and Noah Proffitt combined for four scoreless innings of relief for Ventura. 

VC begins a series of four games in eight days on Tuesday Feb. 6 at Los Angeles Mission College.