Irvine, Calif. – In the CCL battle between the Orange County Riptide and the MLB Academy Barons, a four run seventh inning pushed the Riptide to a 6-4 victory Thursday night.
Starting pitcher Noah Owen (Washington State) threw five scoreless innings, striking out 10 Barons. Owen was dealing, striking out the side in the third and fourth innings.
The Riptide took an early 1-0 lead in the second inning when Reed Spenrath (TCU) hit an RBI groundout to the shortstop, scoring Edarian Williams (UNLV) from third base.
Owen and Barons starting pitcher, Chazz Martinez (Orange Coast College) settled during the early innings giving the game the looks of a pitching duel until the fifth inning.
In the bottom of the fifth Tyler Griggs (Central Arizona College) reached base with a lead-off walk before advancing to second and third, both on off-line pick-off attempts from Barons reliever Tim Scarlett. Griggs later scored on a wild pitch to bring in another run for the Riptide, extending their lead to 2-0.
Brady Lejuene-Deacutis (Texas Tech) entered the game for the Riptide in the sixth inning, in relief of Noah Owen. Owen threw five scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 3.37, the third lowest among starters. Lejuene-Deacutis gave up one run in the inning, but T.C. Simmons (UConn), who threw out the potential game-tying run at third base, minimized the damage.
The Barons were able to tie the game in the top of the seventh inning with an RBI-single from Jordan Williams (San Jacinto College North), but the Riptide were able to answer back in the bottom of the inning.
With Tyler Griggs on second base and Dwight Allen (Georgia) on first in the bottom of the seventh, T.C. Simmons drove in Griggs with a one-out double to put the Riptide back on top 3-2. Eric Bigani (UNLV) earned an RBI walk with the bases loaded bringing in Allen.
Edarian Williams scored Simmons and Seth Beckstead (Tulane) on a fielding error by the Barons second baseman, Nicolas Malbrough (Mission College), making the score 6-2.
Andrew Pogue (Illinois) took over for Lejuene-Deacutis in the seventh inning, and pitched a scoreless inning in the eighth.
Anthony Robie (Texas State) started the ninth inning for the Riptide. Robie faced some trouble in the inning, giving up two runs making the score 6-4. A game-ending strikeout ended the Barons’ rally and secured the victory for the Riptide. The Riptide are now 1-2 in league play, and 7-4 overall.
The Riptide finish their four-game home stand Friday night against the Ventura Pirates.
OC Riptide vs. MLB Academy Barons June 24, 2021 – Box Score