The Cuesta College baseball team blew a 2-0 lead and gave up three runs in the top of the ninth inning to lose 6-3 to Ventura at home Thursday.

The Cougars (22-13, 11-8 Western State Conference-Northern Division) fell to a second-place tie with Santa Barbara and is a half-game behind Moorpark with one game to play.

Cuesta starter David Murillo gave up five runs, two in the ninth inning, on 12 hits over eight innings in the loss.

Cody Lavalli, who walked three times and was hitless in the game, had the only Cougar RBI on a bases-loaded walk in the first inning. Josh Miller added two hits and a run scored.

Cuesta women's diver wins 1-meter state title

Cuesta’s Kristen Brimage won the women’s 1-meter diving event on day one of the California Community College Athletic Association Swimming and Diving Championships at the East Los Angeles College Swim Stadium.

The Cougar women finished the day with 50 team points, good for 10th place. Orange Coast is in first (144) followed by Golden West (133) and Diablo Valley (128) going into the second day today.

The Cuesta men are in seventh place with 68 points, led by the 200-yard freestyle relay team of Jackson Petty, Luke Walton, Dragan Dincic and Matt Giancanelli, which placed fourth in 1 minute, 24.42 seconds.

Sugishita honored by Atlantic Sun Conference for track

Former Arroyo Grande track and field standout Kenny Sugishita was named the Atlantic Sun Conference Outdoor Most Outstanding Field Performer for University of South Carolina Upstate on Thursday for his performance at the conference championships last weekend.

At the conference meet, Sugishita won the shot put (54 feet, 01⁄2 inch, a school record), the hammer throw (185-11) and discus (172-4, school and meet records).

“I just wanted to come in and improve my marks,” Sugishita said in a news release. “Wherever the places fell, that’s fine, but I was just happy to improve on some of my marks. Realistically, I just want to go as far as I can nationally.”