THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – In their first road game of the season, the OC Riptide could not overcome a sizeable early deficit and dropped their second matchup with the Conejo Oaks by a final score of 7-1.
Left-hander Tanner Waraday (Loyola Marymount University) got the start for the Riptide and gave them a solid outing, as he held the Oaks hitless through the first three innings.
However, the Oaks loaded the bases in the fourth off of some walks and an error from Waraday, forcing manager Connor Spencer to go to the bullpen and bring in right-handed reliever Koehn Thomas (Santa Barbara City College).
The Riptide’s sloppiness in the field continued, as a few more walks and a catcher’s interference call allowed three runs to come across for the Oaks.
These woes carried into the fifth inning as the Oaks built upon their total bringing in four more runs to extend their lead to six.
With a finite amount of pitchers early in the summer due to some players joining the team later in the season, Spencer was limited with his arms and forced to leave his relievers in the game despite some struggles in the middle innings.
“We were short today on just about everything,” Spencer said. “We had ten position players and three arms that we could truthfully throw. We’re handcuffed in that, but we’re not here to make excuses, it is what it is. So I commend these guys for just getting through this ball game.”
In total, the Riptide finished with two errors, ten walks and seven runs given up to the Oaks, who were held to a mere one run by OC two nights ago.
At the plate, the Riptide lineup was successful in getting runners on base but struggled to cash in with runners in scoring position.
Through just the first four innings, the Riptide left seven runners on base, including four in scoring position.
“We’re doing a really nice job of putting dancers on the dance floor and not bringing them around,” Spencer said. “We need to get those guys home and we will. There’s just some adjustments we have to make.”
Despite getting on the board first in the second inning with an RBI single from infielder Ace Reese (University of Houston), the Riptide were held scoreless the rest of the game, managing just one run on the day.
The Riptide will look to turn the page and get back to .500, as they close out the weekend with a Sunday night matchup at home against the San Diego Sun Rays.
