Colts close out Santa Barbara series with 4-1 win

REDWOOD CITY – A three-run, third-inning rally would prove to be the difference in a 4-1 Cañada College baseball win over visiting Santa Barbara City College on Saturday.

The Colts' victory wrapped up a two-game non-conference series with the Vaqueros that saw the two teams earn a split after SBCC was an 11-10 winner in 11 innings on Friday.

On Friday, solid pitching by Cañada as well as timely hitting led the win.

Zak Sullivan tossed three innings in his starting effort, allowing just a run and 1 hit. He struck out 5. Drew Parenti (2 2/3 innings) and Gianvito Carriglio (3 1/3 innings) kept Santa Barbara scoreless the rest of the way to close out the contest.

At the plate, Louis Coca came up with the big hit, coming through with a two-run triple in the third inning. That was followed by an RBI-single from John Paul Avila to score Coca.

Cañada added its final run in the eighth with Max Ross' sacrifice bunt that scored Ivan Herrera.

Coca went 2 for 4 with a double, triple, and 2 RBI to lead the Colts' offense. Kyler Bittner (2 for 4, 1 run) also had a pair of hits.

Friday saw the Colts erase a 10-4 deficit as they rallied for six runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie up the game and send it to extra innings. But SBCC was able to score the go-ahead run in the 11^th to escape with the victory.

Coca had another strong game, going 2 for 4 with a home run, double, and 3 RBI. Ross went 3 for 5 with 2 RBI while Herrera was 3 for 6 with 3 RBI and a double.

Connor Uter pitched well in the start, allowing 1 run and 3 hits over 6 innings.

The Colts moved to 1-3 overall after the weekend series. They are back in action on Thursday (Feb. 8) when they host College of Marin in a non-conference game.