Ceres High's varsity baseball team didn't lose any ground in the Western Athletic Conference standings this past week thanks to its two-game sweep of Pacheco.

The Bulldogs (20-5, 9-1) stayed one game ahead of second-place El Capitan (12-8-1, 8-2) in the chase for the WAC title.

"There was a little bit of pressure," Bulldogs senior pitcher/infielder Brad Bussard said. "We played relaxed. We played with poise. We didn't want to get upset."

The first-place Bulldogs and second-place Gauchos will close out the WAC season with a pivotal two-game series this week.

"Our confidence is high right now," Bussard said. "We know what we need to do. We have to win one of the two games. We're in a good position. I'd definitely be surprised if we didn't repeat."

Ceres High outscored Pacheco 18-7 this past week.

The Bulldogs totaled 21 hits on offense.

Ceres High's pitching staff tallied 25 strikeouts.

The Bulldogs beat the Panthers 12-5 on Friday in Ceres.

Bussard improved his WAC pitching record to 4-0.

Brad had six strikeouts and no walks over four innings. He allowed one run and four hits.

Bussard helped his own cause by finishing 4-for-5 with one triple, two doubles, three RBIs and three runs.

Merrik Price batted 1-for-1 with four RBIs and one run.

Brett Conway batted 1-for-4 with one double, two RBIs and one run.

Drew Stahl batted 3-for-3 with two RBIs.

Stahl yielded no runs and three hits with 10 strikeouts during Ceres High's 6-2 win over host Pacheco on Wednesday.

Stahl improved his WAC pitching record to 5-0.

Brad Bussard collected one single, two RBIs and one run.

Conway tripled and knocked in two runs.

El Capitan will try to prevent Ceres High from winning back-to-back WAC titles.

"It would be a huge accomplishment for our program," Bussard said while talking about the possibility of repeating.