Cuesta Baseball opened their Western State Conference series with Ventura with a pair of wins, and they are prepared for their return trip to Ventura for the third game of the week on Saturday (1 PM).  The Cougars opened the series with a win in Ventura on Tuesday, 10-5, and added another win today, 17-8.  The visiting Pirates struck first with a run in the first inning; but cuesta evened the score with a run of their own in the second inning, when Jak Sinclair scored on Max Hunter's Sacrifice Fly.  The Cougars put the game away in the next frame, while scoring seven runs, including three from Third Baseman Hank Hansen, who drove in a Career-high six runs.  Hansen, who also scored thrice, was 4-for-6 on the day, including a double and a home run. Hansen did have some offensive help from his teammates, with 11 different Cougars registering, at least, one safety in the game. On the mound, Freshman Wesley Payne came out of the bullpen to hurl a season-high four innings, while allowing just one run, to earn the victory in relief.   The victory moved the Cougars to 12-9 overall and into a statistical three-way tie for first place in the WSC loop with Santa Barbara and Allan Hancock.

 

Cuesta returns to Ventura on Saturday (1 PM) to complete their series with the Bucs.