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THOUSAND OAKS – The Ventura County Pirates came out swinging with a pair of runs in the opening frame, but then were held scoreless until the eighth inning. Meanwhile, the Conejo Oaks answered with a two-run homer in the third and took the lead for good in the fourth.
All told, the Oaks capitalized on free passes, with three of their eight walks turning into runs, as well as the Pirates' lone fielding error followed by a hit batsman. The Conejo side was active on the base paths as well, stealing six bases to the Pirates' one.
On the mound, starter Ethan Skuija and reliever Garrett Apker each struck out five batters, with Apker only allowing two hits, no walks, and no earned runs in his 3 1/3 innings of work.
Kyle Soberano led off the game with a single on the first pitch he saw, eventually scoring the game's first run. He added a double and another single to go 3 for 5 on the day. Darren Taylor also batted .500 with a pair of singles in his four at bats. Steven Gonzalez‘s RBI double in the top of the eighth drove home Sean Mann to score what would be the Pirates’ last run.
The Pirates face the Santa Barbara Foresters on Sunday, July 4 at 2 PM.