San Luis Obispo, Calif. – The Orange County Riptide’s pitching staff dominated in Tuesday’s 3-2 victory over the San Luis Obispo Blues.

Before Riptide starter Charez Butcher (Tennessee) threw his first pitch of the night, the Riptide offense had already given him an early 1-0 lead. After reaching on a lead-off walk, Davis Diaz (Vanderbilt) came around to score on a fielder’s choice from Reed Spenrath (TCU).

After a scoreless bottom of the first from Butcher, the Riptide quickly gave themselves some insurance. Efrain Cervantes (Nebraska) doubled in the gap to left center to score Spencer Serven (Texas Rio Grande Valley), putting the Riptide up by two.

Butcher finished his night for the Riptide after throwing five scoreless innings, and striking out five. Mike Schreiber (Washington) entered the game in the bottom of the sixth, marking his first appearance of the season. The Blues got two quick baserunners courtesy of a single and a walk. The Blues cut their deficit in half with a sac fly from Tate Samuelson (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo), and that was all for Schreiber.

Hunter Ash (Cal Poly Pomona) relieved Schreiber with one out and a runner on third. The Blues tied the game with an RBI-double from Mason Grotto (Fresno State), but Ash limited the damage with two quick outs to end the sixth.

An RBI-groundout from Serven scored the game-winning run for the Riptide.
Photo Credit: Emily Sullivan

Looking to retake their lead in the top of the seventh, the Riptide loaded the bases with no outs. The Riptide took advantage of some situational hitting, as an RBI-groundout from Serven put the Riptide back on top 3-2.

Cade Connolly (Santa Clara) relieved Ash to start the bottom of the seventh, and held the Blues scoreless in his one inning of work.

Andrew Pogue (Illinois) came into the game in the eighth and finished out the final two innings for the Riptide. 

As a staff, the Riptide gave up only four hits to the Blues in the 3-2 victory.

The Riptide will be back at the Great Park tomorrow night at 6pm PST for a game against the Conejo Oaks.

OC Riptide vs. SLO Blues July 20, 2021 –  Box Score