IRVINE, Calif. – The Riptide relied on an early avalanche in the first inning to catapult themselves past the MLB Academy Barons and secure a spot in the California Collegiate League (CCL) playoffs with a 7-1 home win.
The Riptide lineup jumped on Academy starter Grant Faris and took advantage of some Barons mishaps to score five of their seven runs on the night in the bottom of the first.
The Barons’ woes started early, as they quickly gifted the Riptide the first run of the game with a balk to bring home outfielder Michael Diaz (Grand Canyon University).
The issues on the mound persisted for the Academy with a hit batter and walk allowing another run to score for OC.
Then, infielder Matt Flaharty (University of Utah) came through with the biggest hit of the night for the Riptide, as he smashed a two-run RBI single to put the team ahead 4-0.
A fielder’s choice capped off the scoring for OC and ended a five-run inning for the squad to give the Riptide a 5-0 lead after the first frame.
“Our offense has done a nice job in the first inning [this season],” manager Connor Spencer said. “We took advantage of the mistakes that they gave us, but for the most part, I feel like we put some good swings together. This was a better overall performance out of the offense compared to some of our previous games so I’m hoping it’s something we can build off of.”
With a huge lead, right-hander Jack Bunnell (University of San Diego) took control of the game for the Riptide and completely shut down the Barons in five innings of work.
Jack Bunnell put together an impressive start for the Riptide, as he only allowed one earned run in his five innings on the mound. (Photo courtesy Dingers Photography)
The Riptide’s starter only allowed one earned run on four hits and struck out five Barons hitters to make for an excellent outing.
Additionally, Bunnell made the start on short notice, as a last-minute injury to Riptide pitcher Luke Sterner (Bringham Young University) forced the team to insert him into the starting role against the Barons, which made his performance even more impressive.
“I told Bunnell he was going to start at around 11 p.m. last night, so a phenomenal and professional job by him,” Spencer said. “He pounded the strike zone and got out of some trouble when he needed to. I’m very proud of that start from him.”
The Riptide bullpen followed Bunnell’s lead and threw four shutout innings to end the night. OC relievers Hunter Long (Michigan State University) and Riley Kelly (University of California Irvine) each tossed two innings and teamed up to strike out a total of eight Barons hitters across the final four frames to round out a dominant night as a whole from the pitching staff.
“I think our pitchers did an excellent job of putting up zeroes, obviously the offense got off to a hot start, and then our staff did a good job of putting up scoreless innings,” Bunnell said.
In the eighth, the Riptide tacked on a few insurance runs to put the Barons to bed. Infielder Rocco Gump (Northwestern State University) brought home infielder Patrick Hackworth (University of California San Diego) with a sacrifice fly, while outfielder Jack Hammond finished off a 2-3 day at the plate with a single to snag his second RBI of the night.
The Academy could not respond late in the game and went down quietly to allow the Riptide to secure a 7-1 victory.
The win keeps the Riptide tied with Arroyo Seco Saints in the standings and allows the squad to stay in the running for a home playoff game.
With only four games left on their schedule, the Riptide head up to Thousand Oaks for their toughest stretch yet, as they play the Conejo Oaks in back-to-back games on the road.
Despite splitting the season series so far against the Oaks at three games a piece, the Riptide remain winless on the road in Thousand Oaks, and now look to break their trend of road struggles in an upcoming two-game set with Conejo.
“We have two extremely difficult games coming up here,” Spencer said. “It’s going to boil down to our pitching staff throwing strikes to give us a chance, our offense taking advantage of the other team’s mistakes and us playing crisp and sound defense.”
OC will head up to Thousand Oaks to take on the Saints on Thursday, July 25 at 4:30 p.m. for game one of a pivotal two-game stretch for the team at the tail end of their season.
