San Luis Obispo, Calif.— The Orange County Riptide suffered a tough 5-2 loss against the San Luis Obispo Blues in the first game of the last regular season series for the Riptide.
With the loss against the Blues, the Riptide’s chase for the #1 seed in the CCL Playoffs becomes tricker. They’re 1.5 games back of the Arroyo Seco Saints with two games left to play.
The Riptide had a shaky 1st inning after six straight base runners reached with five of them coming on walks. The Blues produced two runs off of bases loaded walks but the Riptide recorded a strikeout for the third out to stop the bleeding.
After a wild 1st inning, the Riptide didn’t let the long inning effect their offense as they tied it in the top of the 2nd inning.
(Photo credit: Gracie Pugliese)
Patrick Hackworth (UCSD) drove in Carter Garate (Oregon) on a sacrifice fly for the their first run of the game. Then, Nick Upstill (Pepperdine) followed that up with a perfectly placed double to left field to bring home Connor Clift (USC) and even it at two.
Jack Kirrer (Cal) bounced back on the mound as he struck out three Blues in the next three innings. He allowed just three baserunners during this stretch.
The Blues wasted no time putting pressure on in the 5th when their first two batters reached base. After a fielder’s choice put runners on the corners, the Blues retook the lead on a single to make it 3-2.
The Riptide’s offense had a tough time trying to tie it in the top of the 6th and 7th which led to the Blues capitalizing on a chance in the bottom of the 7th. With two outs, a single to left drove in two runs to boost the Blues lead to 5-2.
Following the 7th, the Riptide had a runner on in 8th and 9th but couldn’t drive them in as the Blues closed it out.
The Riptide will look to make up some ground in the CCL South standings on Saturday. They’ll play a double header against the Blues at Sinsheimer Park at 4 and 7 p.m. to close out the regular season before the playoffs begin next week.
Orange County Riptide @ San Luis Obispo Blues – Box Score