A combination of solid offense and pitching led the Foresters to a 6-1 win over the Academy Barons on Friday at Pershing Park.
After losing back-to-back games against the Barons to start the season, Santa Barbara has won the last three matchups.
Righthander Parker Smith out of Rice University made the start and tossed six innings, allowing one run on four hits and three walks while striking out six. He is now 3-0 on the summer.
The Barons got the scoring started early, jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the first thanks to an RBI double from Thomas Williams that scored Jovann Saldana, who singled to lead off the game.
Both pitchers buckled down in the coming innings, as the Foresters struck next, but not until the bottom of the fourth.
Giffin Everitt got the rally started with a walk, as he was able to go first to third on a Nate Rombach single, putting runners on the corners with one out. Then, Jack Holman grounded a ball to the Barons’ first baseman, who touched first base but was late getting the throw to second, letting the tying run score.
After a scoreless fifth, Santa Barbara grabbed their first lead of the night at 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth when Rombach drove home Everitt with an RBI double to right-center field.
The scoring didn’t stop there, as the Foresters tacked on two runs in both the seventh and eighth innings to solidify the victory.
In the seventh, Tanner O’Tremba scored on a wild pitch while Gavin Kash came around to score on an RBI single from Hunter Ensley, putting them up 4-1.
To round out the scoring in the eighth, Kash drove home two more runs to extend the lead to 6-1.
After Smith, Forester pitching dominated the Barons as both Ian Churchill and Cole Reeves tallied strikeouts for every out they recorded.
Churchill, who came in for the seventh and eighth innings, collected six strikeouts while allowing just one base runner while Reeves struck out the side in the ninth.
Santa Barbara is back in action at Pershing Park against the San Luis Obispo Blues on Saturday at 6 p.m.