Steamed Banuelos Burns Oxnard in Leading Pierce to 7-6 Victory : College baseball: Brahma shortstop recovers from display of temper to deliver game-winning hit in the ninth.

First, Ricky Banuelos blew his top. Then, he exploded.

A fourth-inning fit of pique by Banuelos, the Pierce College shortstop, nearly earned him a seat on the bench. But after blowing off steam and getting a quick lecture from co-Coach Bob Lofrano, Banuelos hit a two-run triple in the sixth and knocked in the game-winning run on a two-out, two-strike single in the bottom of the ninth.

Banuelos’ game-winner, a single poked into right field, gave Pierce a 7-6 come-from-behind victory over visiting Oxnard in a Western State Conference baseball game Thursday.

“There have been numerous occasions where he’s come through for us,” Lofrano said. “Ricky made the two hits that counted.”

But after his fourth-inning outburst, he nearly did not get a chance. After Banuelos had flied to left, he angrily heaved his bat back toward the dugout. Both Lofrano and teammate Joe Cascione set Banuelos straight.

“I just said, ‘All right, coach, I’m sorry,’ ” Banuelos said. “The last couple of games I haven’t done anything at the plate. It gets real frustrating. (Lofrano) got me to calm down and concentrate.”

That concentration helped the Brahmas (13-11, 6-5 in conference play) beat one of the top teams in the WSC for the second time in four days. Monday, Pierce beat Canyons and its ace pitcher, Roland De La Maza, 8-4. Thursday, Pierce faced all three pitchers in the Oxnard starting rotation and left them spinning.

Oxnard (15-14, 7-4) gave starter Tim Salado a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the sixth behind Tim Johnson’s run-scoring hit, Jeremy Herider’s third-inning solo home run and run-producing fly balls in the fourth and sixth innings.

Pierce, however, touched Salado for three runs in the sixth. Banuelos tripled to right to score two, and Erik Martinez followed with a sacrifice fly.

Oxnard bounced back with two runs in the seventh and took a 6-4 lead into the ninth. Pinch-hitter Glenn Nahmias led off the Pierce ninth with a double, and Oxnard’s Juan Hernandez walked the next two batters to load the bases.

Joe Canfield then came on in relief to face Pat Huston, Pierce’s best power hitter. But Canfield didn’t provide much relief, walking the first two batters he faced to tie the score. After recording the second out, Canfield surrendered the game-winning hit to Banuelos.

Hernandez (2-3) took the loss and Louis Birdt (4-0) earned the win in relief. Carlos Cardenas had a pair of singles for Oxnard and Banuelos was the only Pierce player with more than one hit.

Oxnard, which had a share of the WSC lead after eight games, has now lost three consecutive conference contests.

“You lose close games like that, and you always doubt whether you’ll be able to close the door at the end,” Oxnard Coach Dave Taylor said. “We were winning those games earlier.”