Messer throws 5-hit shutout; Bereaud drives in three in 3-0 victory

Davis Messer tossed a five-hit shutout on Saturday and Nicolas Bereaud drilled his sixth homer of the year, guiding SBCC to a 3-0 baseball victory over Moorpark at Pershing Park.

Messer (2-5) notched his first complete game, striking out six and walking two. The Raiders (10-16, 6-8 WSC North) had nine baserunners and none got to third base. The Vaqueros (12-14, 9-5) turned double plays in the second and seventh innings.

"I felt good out there, I was just trying to use my defense really," said Messer, a 6-4 sophomore right-hander from Sunnyvale, Calif. "I was trying to get a lot of ground balls. The defense did the majority of the work and when they were making plays, I just kind of fed into them.

"Getting my first complete game was a lot harder than I expected. I felt a little tired in the sixth and seventh but the adrenalin kicked in in the eighth and ninth. I knew I didn't have to do anything spectacular."

Messer got 12 ground-ball outs and seven on fly-outs.

Zak Daniels pitched a strong game for Moorpark, going all the way and giving up three runs on six hits with six strikeouts.

SBCC won its second straight game to move into a virtual tie for first in the WSC North with Cuesta (8-4).

The Vaqueros got a run in the fourth when first baseman Jake Gagain singled, extending his hitting streak to 12 games. He stole second and went to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Bereaud drove him in with a single through the right side of the infield.

Chris Smutny (2-4) led off the sixth with a single and went to second on a wild pitch. With two outs, Bereaud belted a 1-1 pitch over the 385-foot sign in right-center field to make it 3-0.

Bereaud leads the WSC North in homers (6) and RBIs (29) and ranks No. 6 in the state in HRs and 12th in runs batted in.

"Right before I went to the plate, Coach (Jeff) Walker emphasized that I needed to find my pitch and their pitcher threw it right in that spot," said Bereaud, a 6-3 left-hander from San Diego. "I put a good swing on it and wasn't trying to do too much. I just found a pitch I could hit."

Bereaud, the designated hitter, went 2-2 with three RBIs.

"To see Davis pitch a complete game is really big for him and really big for the team," Bereaud stated. "It was nice to see him find his groove and show what kind of pitcher he can be."

SBCC took the season series from the Raiders 3-1 and won the week with a 2-1 record. Moorpark had first and second with no outs in the second but Terrell Tate popped up to short and Austin Fields hit into a double play (6-U-3) to shortstop Wesley Ghan-Gibson.

"Davis Messer was outstanding with a complete-game shutout," said Walker. "We had a couple of mishaps behind him defensively but he didn't let it faze him. We made the plays we needed to and we made the pitches we needed to.

"We got one run and that was all we needed. Then we got a big hit from Bereaud to make it 3-0. We won the series with Moorpark and we won the week, so those are good feathers in our cap going into next week."

The Vaqueros' three starting pitchers all have one complete game this year.

Steven Ledesma will take the mound on Tuesday when the Vaqueros travel to Oxnard at 2:30 p.m. On Thursday, SBCC will host the Condors, also at 2:30.