Walk-off Win Highlights Vaqueros' Opening Homestand

By Jimmy Friery

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Santa Barbara City College Softball team hosted their first home games this weekend, splitting a doubleheader with Glendale before dropping both to a competitive Long Beach program.

Thursday, game one: Glendale 8, Santa Barbara 6

Santa Barbara begun their 2026 home schedule with a Thursday noon-start doubleheader against Glendale. The first inning was not kind to the Vaqueros as they were down four before coming to bat, but Anja Perreira's RBI double got a run back in the bottom half of the frame.

In the bottom of the third, the Vaqueros used six hits to score five runs, taking a 6-4 lead. Still early in the game, though, Glendale plated three runs with two outs—four total—in the fifth inning to retake an 8-6 lead. That would be all the scoring in the slugfest that saw 28 hits (15 for Glendale, 13 for Santa Barbara) combined between the teams.

Perreira and Aila Leoffler tied for the team-lead in hits with three apiece. Shortstop Mia Gaitan also had two hits.

Thursday, game two: Santa Barbara 4, Glendale 3

After a competitive first game, the teams kept it that way in game two. Pitcher Sammi Korte got the Vaqueros on the board in the first with an RBI single and proceeded to throw four scoreless innings. Ruby Bartholomew's two-out, bases-loaded knock scored two more in the fourth, and the Vaqueros had a 3-0 lead.

Glendale countered immediately, scoring three in the top of the fifth. Korte would keep them off the board thereafter, and it went to the bottom of the seventh tied 3-3.

Bartholomew led off the inning with a walk, and Gracie Verdugo singled to make it first and second with one out. After a flyout for the second out, a passed ball advanced the runners to second and third. Bella Cox hit a chopper back to the pitcher, who inexplicably turned toward Bartholomew at third rather than just get the out at first. After she went back to the bag, the pitcher turned towards Verdugo running back to second and threw to the second baseman. Bartholomew raced for home, and her head-first slide barely beat the throw, giving the Vaqueros their first win of the year in walk-off fashion.

Korte threw a complete game, striking out three and allowing just three runs on five hits. Verdugo was the only Vaquero with multiple hits, but her baserunning on the final play might have been the most important contribution. The Vaqueros handed Glendale their first loss of the season.

Friday: Long Beach 14, Santa Barbara 2

Turning the page to Friday night, the Vaqueros had the tall task of facing an undefeated Long Beach team that finished last year 38-6. On top of that, all but one of their prior games this season were shutouts, the other being a 13-4 run-rule victory. Against Santa Barbara, a 10-run first inning effectively put the game out of reach.

But the Vaqueros did well to limit them to four runs over the next four innings. Korte ripped a two-out, two-run double in the fifth inning to avoid a shutout and give the Vaqueros some life heading into the rematch the following day. Gaitan had two hits as well.

Saturday: Long Beach 12, Santa Barbara 7

Despite the loss on Friday, the Vaqueros were resilient in Saturday's matchup just 17 hours later. After a five-run top of the first, Korte again drilled an extra-base hit to get the Vaqueros on the board in the bottom half.

Long Beach plated two in the third, one in the fourth, and another in the fifth, but Santa Barbara did not quit. With the score 9-1, Cox's single up the middle kept the game alive at 9-2. In the sixth, Korte's bat stayed red hot as she hit the first homer of the year for the Vaqueros, a no-doubter to left field.

Long Beach scored two in the seventh after a two-out error, and those runs proved to be crucial. Santa Barbara would not go down without a fight; eight and nine hitters Kaylee Carrillo and Maite Juarez singled and doubled, respectively, with one out to set up the top of the order. After Cox singled, Bartholomew tripled down the right field line to make it 12-6. Verdugo's sac fly brought the score its 12-7 final, with the Vaqueros putting four across in the final frame.

Korte's pitching line did not do her incredible performance justice; she allowed just five earned runs pitching all seven innings against what could be the best offense the Vaqueros face all year. She also had two hits—a double and a homer—and two RBIs, as did the leadoff hitter Cox.

The Vaqueros have a quick turnaround, playing a doubleheader at Canyons—their only games of the week—on Tuesday starting at noon.