Irvine, Calif. – The Orange County Riptide toppled the San Luis Obispo Blues 5-2 Wednesday evening due to their intensity at the plate and exceptional defense.
Noah Owen (Washington State) took the mound for the Riptide as their starting pitcher. Through his five innings of pitching, he piled a total of four strikeouts while only surrendering two runs off the Blue’s homerun in the third inning.
The Riptide offense strung together three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Reed Spenrath (TCU) got the first hit of the inning with his double off the right field fence. Emilio Rosas (USC) advanced Spenrath to third with his single to the outfield.
The chain of scoring began with the RBI single from Tyler Griggs (Central Arizona) that scored Spenrath. Davis Diaz (Vanderbilt) followed this at-bat with a double that drove in Rosas from second base. Kyle Booker (Tennessee) scored Griggs from third after being thrown out at first, giving the Riptide a 3-2 lead by the end of the fourth.
Kyle Booker (Tennessee) avoids the tag at the plate to score the fifth run for the Riptide
(Photo credit: Alina Nelson)
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Eric Bigani (UNLV) walked to reach base safely and advanced to second off a passed ball to the backstop. Spenrath delivered at the plate with another double that brought Bigani home to extend the lead.
Shawn Hepler (Xavier) stepped in to throw for the Riptide to start the sixth inning. Through two innings of pitching, Hepler shut down the Blues by not allowing a single hit or run to be scored.
Booker added another base hit to his stat line with his single to left field in the bottom of the sixth. Kolton Freeman (Dartmouth) scored Booker all the way from first with his double to the outfield.
Derek Shaver (Wichita State) threw for the Riptide in the eight inning and did not allow the Blue’s offense to accomplish anything. Tony Robie (Texas State) closed on the mound and shut out the Blues to lock down the win for the Riptide.
Notable for the Riptide, Kyle Booker has provided a huge boost for Orange County since his debut on Tuesday. Booker, a late arrival to the team due to the Tennessee Volunteers participating in the College World Series in Omaha, has posted an impressive stat line in his first two games. Booker’s slash line stands at .556/.600 /.778 recording five hits in nine at-bats, walking once, belting two doubles and and recording one RBI while batting lead-off on both games.
This win stretches the Riptide’s record to 10-6 overall and 3-4 in California Collegiate League play.
The Riptide return to OC Great Park tomorrow night to face-off against the Ventura Pirates at 6:00 P.M. (PDT).
OC Riptide vs. SLO Blues June 30, 2021 – Box Score
