Cuesta Baseball, ranked #17, had its eight-game winning streak snapped as the 14th-ranked Santa Barbara City Vaqueros pulled themselves back into a tie for 1st place in the Western State Conference (WSC).  The loss marked the Cougars first setback since losing to Pierce, 15-2, on March 22.  After that loss, Cuesta had been on a nine-game tear, including a pair of wins over those same Brahmas by a combined score of 32-6.  The run pushed the Cougars to top spot in the WSC circuit.  However, today's loss to Santa Barbara City, 9-8, earned the visiting Vaqueros a share of the top spot with the Cougars, while they both own a one-game lead over Los Angeles Pierce in 3rd place.  Today, Santa Barbara opened the game with three runs in their first at bat and pushed their advantage to 5-1 in their next turn at the plate.  Cuesta got finally got its offense rolling with six runs in their second turn at the plate, thanks to a two-run Homer by Designated Hitter Jacob Johnson and a bases clearing Double by all-WSC Shortstop Victor Heredia, which give their Cougars their first lead, 7-5.  Santa Barbara evened the game with single runs in the 4th and 5th innings, but Cuesta First Baseman Tristan Usher's Sacrifice Fly in the 6th returned the advantage to the Cougars, 8-7.  Both teams were silent before and after the stretch, when the Cougars moved Heredia to the mound to try and add to his team-leading collection of saves.  The Vaqueros welcomed Heredia with a Double by Wade Matuszak and a home run from Designated Hitter Nick Putnam to regain the lead, 9-8.  Heredia got the next six outs without allowing another run, while he and Usher both walked to open the bottom of the 9th.  The duo, representing the tying and winning runs, were stranded when the next three Cuesta batsmen went down in order as the Cougars took the loss, 9-8.   

Cuesta has four games remaining on their regular season schedule, split evenly between home and the road.  The Cougars finish this week by hitting on the road the next two days.  Cuesta plays at Ventura on Friday (2 PM) and at Allan Hancock on Saturday (1 PM).  They shall also finish the regular season with two games in SLO, next Tuesday (2 PM) and Thursday (2 PM), when they host Los Angeles Pierce and Moorpark, respectively.