Moorpark Gains Title Tie With a Jackrabbit Finish : Raiders: They win, 7-2, and will represent conference as its top-seeded team in the playoffs by virtue of head-to-head record.

In the eighth inning of Moorpark College’s final game of the regular season at Oxnard on Saturday, a dog chased a jackrabbit in a field behind the bleachers.

The chase scene, which caught the attention of many of the spectators, was somewhat symbolic because Moorpark has been chasing College of the Canyons for the Western State Conference baseball title in recent weeks.

Unlike the dog, which was outdistanced by the rabbit, Moorpark caught Canyons last Thursday, and the Raiders nearly passed the Cougars as well after beating Oxnard, 7-2.

Unfortunately for Moorpark, which entered the regular season’s final day tied for first place with both Canyons and Cuesta, the Raiders will have to settle for a share of the WSC championship. Canyons rallied Saturday to defeat Valley, 22-14, and Cuesta defeated Santa Monica, 9-8, in 11 innings.

Thus Moorpark, Canyons and Cuesta, all 15-5 in conference play, are tri-champions. But because Moorpark swept Cuesta and split with Canyons, and Canyons split with Cuesta, only Moorpark and Canyons will earn automatic berths to the Southern California regional of the state tournament.

Moorpark will be the conference’s top-seeded team. Cuesta still could make an appearance in the regionals as a wild card team, if invited.

Because of the three-way tie for the title, the WSC Shaughnessy tournament will be canceled.

“We kind of sneaked in the back way, but definitely we deserved it,” Moorpark catcher Marcus Lockwood said. “We all had this as our goal from the very start.”

Lockwood had two hits against Oxnard (14-21 overall, 6-14 in conference play), including a solo homer in the fifth that gave the Raiders a 6-2 lead.

It was one of three Moorpark home runs as the Raiders (23-12 overall) collected 14 hits, perhaps helping to account for the failure of Oxnard’s scoreboard in the middle innings.

Moorpark took a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Dan Smith got aboard on an error, and Darin Furlong and Mike Suarez followed with singles to load the bases with nobody out. Darren Aurand flied out to right fielder Carlos Cardenas, whose throw to the plate nailed Smith, who had tagged up at third.

Henry Schelb then doubled down the left-field line to score Furlong with Moorpark’s first run. Schelb had two other hits, including a solo homer in the ninth, and finished with three RBIs.

Moorpark broke the game open in the fourth. Ken Knight hit a bases-empty homer, his first of the year, Aurand knocked in two runs with a bases-loaded single, and Schelb followed with a run-scoring single off Oxnard starter John Brookman (6-9), making it 5-0.

Oxnard got two runs back in the bottom of the inning off Moorpark starter Jeff Berman (8-1) but managed just one hit over the final five innings.

Berman was shaky early, allowing six hits, walking two batters and hitting another in the first four innings, but he was aided by three double plays. Berman finished with a seven-hitter, striking out five and walking five.

“That was a tough game emotionally because Oxnard had nothing on the line and we had everything on the line,” Moorpark Coach Ken Wagner said. “It’s very difficult to win under those circumstances.”