The Santa Barbara Foresters continued their strong start to the season with an 8-4 victory over the Conejo Oaks on Tuesday at Ventura College.
The Foresters are now 3-0 on the young season, with Tuesday’s victory marking their first road game of the summer.
After two scoreless innings to begin the day, Santa Barbara jumped in front in the third thanks to a pair of Conejo miscues.
Caleb Hoover (South Carolina) opened the scoring by coming home on a passed ball, while Marcus Gries (TCU) and Chris Newstrom (Tennessee) scored later in the inning on an Oaks’ error to take a 3-0 lead.
Conejo responded with a run-scoring single in the bottom of the third to make it 3-1, but the ‘Sters punched right back in the fourth when Hoover roped an RBI single and later came home on another Conejo error to expand the lead to 5-1.
Hoover’s big day continued after a scoreless fifth, as he blasted a two-run home run in the top of the sixth to provide some cushion and make it a 7-1 advantage.
When all was said and done, Hoover went 2-for-3 with three RBI and three runs scored in the Santa Barbara victory.
The Oaks made a late push with a three-run eighth inning, but the Foresters tacked on one final run when Luke Cornelison (Arkansas) scored on a passed ball to bring the game to its final score of 8-4.
Hunter Vincent (Texas A&M) turned in a solid start for Santa Barbara, allowing one run on one hit while striking out six in four innings of work. Joey Wittig (Louisiana Tech) followed with two scoreless innings of relief, and Will Jordan (Texas Tech) struck out the side in the seventh.
After Grady Westphal (Texas) failed to record an out in the eighth, Lucien Wechsberg (Pepperdine) came on and fired two shutout innings while striking out four to earn the save.
The Foresters will remain on the road against the Arroyo Seco Saints on Wednesday at 5:35 p.m. at Jackie Robinson Field.
