The Vaqueros suffered their second consecutive loss Tuesday night with a tough 1-5 defeat to the Bakersfield Renegades at Stengel Field, falling to 11-7 on the season.

Sophomore pitcher Matt Stone got to a great start allowing only two hits and one run in the first five innings. The Renegades were not able to produce their first hit until the top of the fourth inning.

“As far as [Stone’s] performance just on the mound,” said Vaqueros coach Chris Cicuto.
“He was great; he was real, real good.”

Unfortunately for the Vaqueros, errors during the top of the sixth inning allowed the Renegades to score a run and put their runners in scoring position. By the beginning of the seventh inning, the Vaqueros had dug themselves into a hole, falling behind 0-3.

Offensively, the Vaqs were unable to produce runs. The Vaqueros totaled only three hits and one run. The highlight of the offense was sophomore infielder Michael Pacheco’s solo home run in the bottom of the eighth, which cut the score to 1-4. The Vaqueros offense was not able to produce any more points and eventually fell 1-5.

“We didn’t come out the same team we’ve been, tonight,” said Cicuto.

“We’ve been more enthusiastic about the game. It’s a disappointing loss for us because of our intensity.”

“Our guys weren’t dialed in; we weren’t locked in as we have been in the past. We just have to be more intense as far as knowing what the guy is throwing and going to bat and having a plan. We are a much better hitting team than it shows from tonight.”

Glendale, which has averaged about nine points in the past 13 games, will play at Los Angeles Mission College this Saturday. Cicuto hopes that his ballclub will play at a higher level of vigor next contest.

“We’ve all played this game a long time, and they know how to get up and when to get up,” he said.

“We just got to get back to playing like the team we have been in the past.”