San Marcos spotted Santa Ynez a 4-0 lead after four innings on Monday and never recovered in a 4-1 loss in a Channel League softball game on the road.
The Pirates scored two unearned runs on two Royal errors in the second inning. Santa Ynez added two more in the fourth on a passed ball and an RBI single.
Santa Ynez is 7-0 overall and 3-0 in league, outscoring its three opponents 30-9. The Royals fell to 2-3 and 2-1.
San Marcos got its run in the sixth when Izabella Velazquez led off with a double and Maddy Leung singled. Velazquez scored on a sacrifice fly by Claire Early. After Leung was thrown out at third, Megan Cunnison and Allie Fryklund singled to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs. But a deep fly-out to right field ended the threat.
“We still need to clean some things up defensively, but the overall defensive effort was better today,” said Royals coach Jeff Swann. “Trailing again in this game, this team showed the same poise and grit to battle back. Unfortunately today it was a little too late.”
San Marcos is scheduled to play at Santa Paula on Thursday.