The Moorpark College softball team won a pitcher’s duel, beating Cuesta College 2-1 in the battle Thursday afternoon at Moorpark.
The Raiders are on a mission to overtake first place in the Western State Conference Gold Division, and are now a half-game back from the Ventura College Pirates for first place.
According to Raiders head coach Will Thurston, getting the victory was very important in order to give his team a chance to beat out the Pirates for first place with only two games left in the regular season.
“This [win] was huge,” Thurston said. “Cuesta’s a good team, [and] they play everybody tough at times.”
However, the Raiders (20-15, 12-4 WSC) need to win out because the Pirates (12-3) hold the tiebreaker after beat them in extra innings on March 25.
The Raiders relied on strong pitching from freshman Kelly Eder, who pitched a complete game, giving up only one run on six hits in seven innings to the Cougars (16-20, 9-7).
Eder is 11-2 in WSC play with a 1.84 earned run average, including five shutouts, helping propel the Raiders to a victory in a game where each team was lacking to production on offense.
It was a scoreless game until the bottom of the fifth inning, when sophomore Cayla Nelson hit an RBI-single to knock in Mallory Mazzuca. A Neumann RBI-single in the bottom of the sixth gave them an extra run and 2-0 lead heading into the top of the seventh.
Despite giving up a run in the seventh inning, Eder was able to hold on and give the Raiders an important victory.
According to catcher and co-captain Taylor Neumann, Eder’s development as a pitcher has really helped the Raiders get key wins this season.
“She’s definitely a different person, [a] different pitcher than when she first started out,” Neumann said. “It’s nice to see her doing well, and we’re all proud of her.”
Moorpark will finish off the regular season Tuesday, April 20 when they take on the Pirates in a double header that will determine who will get the conference crown. The games will start at 1 and 3 p.m. respectively.
According to Thurston, the double header will be the most important games of the season for the Raiders, and he is anticipating the match-up.
“We are definitely looking forward to the match against Ventura,” he said. “Those two games are going to be critical for us.”
However, Neumann feels that if they come out to play, they have a good chance taking the WSC crown for the third consecutive year.
