Ledesma shuts out Cuesta on four hits, 3-0

Steven Ledesma tossed a four-hitter on Thursday and Nicolas Bereaud hit his fourth homer as SBCC blanked Cuesta 3-0 in a WSC North baseball game at San Luis Obispo.

It was the first shutout and first complete game by a Vaquero pitcher this year. Santa Barbara improved to 6-8 overall and 3-3 in conference while the Cougars, ranked No. 10 in Southern Cal, fell to 9-5 and 3-1.

Ledesma (2-1) struck out nine and walked two. Two days earlier, the Vaqueros suffered a four-hit shutout by Cuesta's Neil Uskali.

"Steven pitched great, that was our best performance of the year," said coach Jeff Walker. "Their guy was good but Stevie was a little better."

Cuesta starter Brendan Jenkins (3-3) went 7 2/3 innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on three hits with six strikeouts and two walks.

Bereaud, a 6-3 sophomore left-hander from San Diego, gave the Vaqueros a 1-0 lead on a solo homer with two outs in the fourth. He leads the state in home runs (4) while ranking third in RBIs (20) and seventh in slugging percentage (.786).

The Vaqueros added two unearned runs in the eighth when Morgan Lomax reached on an error and was forced out at second on a fielder's choice by Michael Montpas. Nicholas Allman singled and Chris Smutny followed with a two-out, two-run double to make it 3-0.

SBCC will host East L.A. in a nonconference game on Friday at 2 p.m.