Cuesta Baseball had four games scheduled this week, including three on the road.  Today it was important for the Cougars to defend their home turf with a victory over visiting Ventura, 9-4, because it was the only game of the week in front of their home faithful.  The Cougars struck first after Shortstop Diego Murillo led off the 1st inning and came around to score on a wild pitch, while Designated Hitter Anthony Cannavino scored two batters later.  Catcher Braydon Kimble (pict-L) smacked solo home runs in both the 4th and 5th innings and Cuesta pulled away, 7-1.  The Pirates finally got to Cuesta Starter Marc Byrum (pict-R) with a pair of runs in the 6th, but Reliever Jackson Howell came in and put out the fire.  Howell earned a Save for preserving Byrum's victory with 3.1 innings of relief as both teams went scoreless after the stretch.   The victory moved the Cougars to 10-6 on the season and 3-2 in Western State Conference play. 

The Cougars and Pirates complete their three-game series on Saturday (1 PM) in Ventura.  Cuesta also went on the road to Ventura and beat the Bucs on Tuesday, 7-4, but also fell at Santa Barbara, 3-1, in a WSC make-up game on Wednesday.