IRVINE, Calif. – The Riptide relied on timely hitting and exceptional pitching to scrap together a 5-3 Friday night win over the Academy Barons.
Riptide starting pitcher Sammy Cova (University of Oregon) set the tone for OC early in the game and completely shut down the Barons at the plate. In five innings of work, Cova held the Academy scoreless, striking out seven Barons hitters to ultimately pick up his first win of the season.
Sammy Cova pitched a scoreless five innings for the Riptide in the team’s 5-3 win over the Barons. (Photo courtesy Dingers Photography)
“The team played well and played some good defense behind me,” Cova said. “I was able to get ahead of guys and use all three of my pitches, so it worked out well.”
Conversely, the Riptide offense came up short a few times with runners in scoring position early in the game but used power-hitting in the fourth inning to finally cash in.
Infielder Patrick Hackworth broke the ice with a two-run RBI double to pick up his first extra-base hit of the season and bring in infielders Rocco Gump (Northwestern State University) and J.C. Allen (University of California San Diego).
OC was not finished, as outfielder Carson McEntire (Oregon State University) provided the highlight of the night with a towering two-run home run over the centerfield fence to make the score 4-0.
It was McEntire’s first home run of the season and just another bright spot in his strong start to the summer with the Riptide.
“It felt good to get my first one after almost a year and a half of being hurt and not playing baseball, so I’m just happy to be back out here and have success,” McEntire said.
The success at the plate continued for the Riptide into the fifth, with a few walks setting up Gump to come through with a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to five.
With a five-run lead, OC seemed to take their foot off the gas pedal, as the Riptide bats went silent and allowed the Barons to hang around late into the night.
The Academy took advantage of some errors in the eighth and brought home their first runs of the night with RBIs coming from infielder Dylan Lina and outfielder Zach Freeman.
However, despite a late threat from the Barons in the ninth, Riptide reliever Tanner Warady was able to close out the night for OC and secure a 5-3 win at home.
Although the Riptide did not play the cleanest game, manager Connor Spencer was proud of the way his team was able to battle through some mistakes late and find a way to hold on.
“We took advantage of mistakes when we needed to and survived the mistakes that we made, which I felt like were quite a few tonight,” Spencer said.
As the Riptide close out their third and fourth games in five days this weekend, Spencer acknowledged how keeping his team healthy down the stretch of the season is of the utmost importance.
“We’re starting to get the injury bug a little bit, but that’s just the course with summer baseball, especially with these guys that are moving into the three hundred-plus at-bat territory for the year,” Spencer said. “Right now I’m preaching quality over quantity, it’s about coming in and getting the work we need done finished and not overdoing ourselves.”
After defeating the Barons in back-to-back games, the Riptide now have a three-game winning streak that they hope they can carry through the weekend. Tomorrow, they’ll look to extend the streak to four against the first-place Foresters at 4 p.m. in Santa Barbara.
