Baseball improved to 2-0 against the Western State Conference with a second straight win over rival Santa Barbara City, 16-1.  The Cougars and Vaqueros battled for the WSC Crown until the final day of the 2022 season and the Cougars have already begun their title defense with a pair of victories versus their rivals.  The Cougars, who shutout the Vaqueros, 3-0, in Santa Barbara on Tuesday, scored all the runs they would need on Designated Hitter Liam MacDonald's two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning.  MacDonald was 2-for-2 on the day, later adding a 2-RBI triple to his dinger, with two runs scored and five RBI.  After his first inning clout, the Cougars went on to build a sixteen-run lead, until SBCC's Ethan Watson spoiled the Cougars' shutout with a pinch-hit, solo home run to leadoff the 9th.  Shortstop Victor Heredia, Catcher Charlie Jordan and Rightfielder Mattias Sessing all joined MacDonald with multi-hit games for Cuesta, while Leftfielder Alex Hagen joined MacDonald in the home run derby with a pinch-hit, three-run clout of his own in the 7th inning.  Cuesta Starter Jackson Cloud hurled six scoreless innings to improve to 3-0 on the season, while Sophomore Kade Walker closed the game with a three-inning save.  The Cougars are 8-5-1 overall.  

Today's game was scheduled for Thursday but was pushed forward due to impending inclement weather.  The Cougars and Vaqueros game at Santa Barbara, scheduled for Saturday (1 PM) is currently unchanged on the schedule.