Left-Hander Downing Shows Right Stuff

Brian Downing, a 6-foot-5 sophomore left-hander, pitched a four-hitter to pace Oxnard to a 3-1 victory over Valley in a Western State Conference interdivisional game Tuesday at Oxnard.

Browning (4-0), from Thousand Oaks High, struck out six.

Eric Farias had a run-scoring single in the fourth inning to snap a 1-1 tie, and Raudel Flores scored on a passed ball in the same inning.

Oxnard’s Scott Foli was two for four, including a run-scoring double.

The victory kept the Condors (17-6, 10-2) one game behind Cuesta in the North Division.

Valley fell to 7-16, 4-7.

Pierce 4, Moorpark 3--Steve Klein had a home run and two runs batted in for Moorpark (8-14, 5-6), but the Brahmas (14-9, 6-5) scored four runs in the ninth inning to win the WSC interdivisional game at Moorpark.

Dave Martinez had two hits for Moorpark.

Cuesta 13, Mission 5--Casey Cloud hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning to pace the winners in a WSC interdivisional game at Cuesta.

The home run was Cloud’s third in conference play.

Ryan Merkle had two triples for Cuesta (22-4, 11-1), which has a one-game North Division lead over Oxnard.

Merkle leads the WSC with four triples.

Mission dropped to 9-15, 2-10.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 6, Pepperdine 3--Former Westlake High player Rob Neal singled twice and drove in three runs to lead the Mustangs (13-14) in the nonconference game at San Luis Obispo. Pitcher Justin Cuellar (2-2) gave up nine hits in 3 2/3 innings and took the loss for the Waves (21-13), ranked 27th by Collegiate Baseball magazine.