IRVINE, Calif. – The Orange County Riptide were narrowly defeated by the San Luis Obispo Blues 3-2 Saturday night at Great Park.
Starting pitcher Trey Seeley (Hope International University) made his Riptide debut in this California Collegiate League matchup. Seeley allowed two hits in the top of the first inning, the second being a two-RBI triple that gave the Blues an early 2-0 lead.
The top of the first inning also saw the game’s only walk issued by a Riptide pitcher. In the bottom of the first inning, Carter Danz (Northwestern University) delivered the Riptide’s first hit of the game, a single to center field, but no runs came across; none did until the bottom of the sixth inning.
Pitcher Danny Suarez (University of California, Irvine) recorded six strikeouts and 3.1 scoreless innings Saturday night.
(Photo courtesy of Andy Espineira)
After the first three innings, hitting on both teams halted for some time, with no hits from the top of the fourth inning to the top of the sixth inning. Pitchers Kadin Muckley (University of Missouri, Columbia) and Danny Suarez (University of California, Irvine) combined for three straight 1-2-3 innings in the top of the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings.
A pair of singles from Bradley Navarro (University of Utah) and Jake Evans (California State University, Long Beach) started the bottom of the sixth inning. With Danz up to bat, an overthrow from the Blues catcher allowed Navarro to reach home safely from third base. To finish his at-bat, Danz delivered an RBI single that tied the game 2-2.
In the top of the seventh inning, a dropped third strike put the first Blues runner on base since the top of the third inning, but Suarez and the Riptide were able to escape damage, at least for the time being. The Riptide left two men on base in the bottom of the seventh inning, unable to cash in any runs.
With Dane Grant (University of California, Irvine) on the mound in the top of the eighth, the Blues posted two hits, but no runs, and left two men on base. Grant was not as fortunate in the top of the ninth inning when a fly ball dropped between three Riptide players in right field, which resulted in a triple. A sacrifice fly scored the opposing runner from third, which the Riptide were unable to respond to in the bottom of the ninth inning.
“We’re really close on just putting things away. Our bullpen has been absolutely phenomenal,” said Assistant Coach Andrew Ramos. “Defensively, we’ve just got to clean up a couple things, keep the ball in front of us, control what we can control, and then, I think offensively, we’re gonna go ahead and do it, but we’ve just got to pick up the defensive miscues and we’ll be OK.”
The Riptide will face the San Diego Bombers in the teams’ third meeting this season on Sunday, June 22 at 5:30 p.m. at home.
