Compton, Calif. – The Orange County Riptide have been defeated by the MLB Academy Barons 4-0 in Compton Wednesday night.
To begin the game, the Riptide were unable to get a runner on base and went down in order. The Barons were able to attack the Riptide early and often as they scored three runs in the bottom of the first. Jake Evans (Cal State Long Beach) made a crucial throwing error on a ground ball that allowed the Barons to have two men in scoring position. An RBI single would then put the Barons up 3-0 after one inning.
Bradley Navarro with a single to left field. (Photo courtesy of Dominic Madonia)
Tommy McGuire (Grand Canyon U) was able to toss two shutout innings after the first inning and strike out five total batters. In the fourth, Trey Telfer (Indiana U) entered the game and pitched three innings. Telfer would then give up one run in the bottom of the fifth courtesy of a single to left field.
Dane Grant (UC Irvine) came into the game in the seventh inning and was able to retire the side. The final pitcher of the night for the Riptide would be Dylan Blakey (Texas Tech U). Blakey gave up two hits and that ultimately led the Barons to score their fifth run of the ballgame.
The Riptide struggled mightily at the plate Wednesday night only reaching base safely a total of five times. Bradley Navarro (U of Utah), Jimmy Zahkar (Transfer Portal), and Tyler Holland (U of Arkansas) were the only Riptide players to hit on base safely, all earning singles. When asked about the offensive struggles at the plate, Coach Evans replied with the following, “I don’t think we were very aggressive at the plate and we were missing our pitch when we got it. They filled up the zone, they threw multiple pitches for strikes, and they kept us off balance.”
The Riptide look to bounce back tomorrow night when they travel to San Luis Obispo to face the Blues at 6:00 p.m.
