Irvine, Calif. – The Orange County Riptide took the field tonight against the Arroyo Seco Saints in special pink alt uniforms in partnership with Team Michelle to raise awareness for breast cancer. To make the night more special, the raffle included a pink Team Michelle jersey signed by all the players and tickets to the upcoming Freeway Series in Anaheim.
Despite neither team scoring a run for 5 innings, the Saints struck first and though the Riptide matched them for runs twice, they couldn’t come out on top. This loss ends the four-game win streak and brings the Riptide back to .500 in conference play. They are now 12-10-1 on the season and third in the CCL South.
Noah Carabajal (Long Beach State) was excellent in his second start of the season. He pitched 5 shutout innings and gave up a single in the top of the 5th to end a streak of 9.0 consecutive no-hit innings over his past 4 appearances. Carabajal walked 2 and struck out 5. He was relieved in the top of the 6th by Ryan Daugherty (St. Mary’s Calif.) who gave up the first run of the game on 2 walks, a wild pitch, and a sacrifice fly. Daugherty was relieved with 2 outs and runners on by Carson Case (Nevada). On 2 hits, Case let 2 of Daugherty’s runners and 1 of his own score, but a great play at the plate by catcher Nathan Smith (Tennessee) stopped the bleeding at 4 runs.
Photo Credit: Sage Zipeto
After being held scoreless for 6 innings, the Riptide answered right back with a 4-run inning of their own in the bottom of the 7th. They loaded the bases on a double by Gavin Haimovitz (Santa Barbara City College), an HBP, and a walk. Their first run came on a bases-loaded HBP by Nathan Manning (Cal). When the Saints changed pitchers, our Utah Tech hitters Shane Taylor and Zach Thomas pounced, hanging 3 runs on him as Taylor singled home 2 and Thomas doubled home one for his team-leading 5th two-bagger of the season.
Reliever Ethan Pope (Cal Baptist) entered a brand new ballgame in the top of the 8th and put up a 0, but only one as the Saints pulled ahead again in the 9th, scoring 2 off him. Pope was helped out in the top of the 8th by an incredible diving play by right fielder Manning.
Nathan Smith (@Vol_Baseball) with the sacrifice fly to score Zach Thomas (@zacferrari @UtahTech_BASE) ‼️ We’re all even here at the Great Park‼️
We’re heading to extra’s!B9 | Saints 6 – Riptide 6 #GBO #Vols #UtahTechBlazers #OCRiptidebaseball #ocriptidefamily #summerball pic.twitter.com/cIAUy219RD
— OC Riptide Baseball (@ocriptide) July 9, 2022
The Riptide rallied in the bottom of the 9th, matching the Saints for 2 to send the game to extras. Manning, Thomas, and Wilson Galvan (UT Arlington) all singled and a sac fly by Smith brought the tying run home.
Closer Daniel Naughton (Gonzaga) allowed 2 runs in the top of the 10th, on a triple and a double. The Riptide couldn’t answer back this time and took the loss, 8-6.
Taylor and Thomas were the standout offensive players, each going 2-5 with 2 and 1 RBI respectively.
The Riptide are on the road again tomorrow, visiting the Conejo Oaks at Sparky Anderson Field. First pitch is 4 pm.
OC Riptide vs. Arroyo Seco Saints – Box Score