COLLEGE SPRING HIGHLIGHTS : After the Storm, Moorpark Strands Santa Barbara, 5-3

After being rained out of its last three games, the Moorpark College baseball team defeated Santa Barbara City, 5-3, in a Western State Conference game at Moorpark Tuesday.

The Raiders scored four times in the first inning. Leadoff batter Jon Egertson singled, then scored on a single to right by Tom LeGassick. LeGassick and Joey Shoen, who had singled, scored when Eric Fischer hit a three-run homer over the center-field fence.

Chris Hamilton hit a two-run homer in the second inning for Santa Barbara. The Vaqueros scored their final run in the third inning when Trevor Maier went home from third on an error.

Santa Barbara rallied in the late innings, but failed to score, leaving a runner on third in the fifth and stranding two in the seventh inning.

Last season, the Raiders might have let the lead erode.

“We had the habit of jumping out to a lead last year and letting it slip away,” said Moorpark Coach Ron Stillwell.

But Steve Reed (3-0) held on for the Raiders. Barely. The sophomore right-hander allowed seven hits, walked two, and hit three batters, while striking out only two.

Moorpark improved to 2-0 in conference, 6-4 overall, while Santa Barbara dropped to 0-3 and 5-6.