Irvine, Calif. – In Friday’s showdown between the Orange County Riptide and Arroyo Seco Saints, the Riptide offense was shut down by the Saints pitching in the 7-3 loss.

The Saints took an early lead in the top of the first inning as they scored one run off of Riptide starter Jake McBride, courtesy of an RBI-single from Saints right fielder, Jake McMurray (Oral Roberts).

The Saints did not hesitate to add to their lead, putting up three runs in the second inning to give them a 4-0 lead. Back-to-back-to-back singles loaded the bases for the Saints before an RBI-double from Thomas Castillo (Long Beach State) brought in two runs. The Saints brought in their last run of the inning with a sac fly from Connor Bradshaw (Pepperdine).

Efrain Cervantes was 2-4 on the night with 2 RBI’s Friday night.
Photo Credit: Alina Nelson

The Riptide cut into their deficit in the bottom of the second after Blake Penso (UC Irvine) reached via walk and later came around to score on an RBI-double from Efrain Cervantes (Nebraska), making the score 4-1.

Matthew Magre (Arkansas) relieved McBride to start the third. Magre allowed one run in the inning, getting the Saints’ lead back to four. 

In the home half of the third, T.C. Simmons (UConn) reached base on a fielding error by second baseman Jackson Cobb (Texas Tech). After advancing to second on a wild pitch, Simmons came around to score on an RBI-triple from Gavin Haimovitz (Santa Barbara City College), making the score 5-2.

After a stall in scoring for a few innings, the Riptide bats woke up in the home half of the sixth. Reed Spenrath (TCU) doubled to lead off the inning before coming around to score on a single from Cervantes, cutting the deficit to two.

Shawn Hepler (Xavier) entered the game in the seventh in relief of Magre.

The Saints added to their run total in the top of the eighth, extending their lead to 7-3.

Nathan Cachu (LSU-Shreveport) entered the game in the ninth for the Riptide to close out the game. 

The Riptide were unable to complete a comeback in the bottom of the ninth, the final score being 7-3.

The Riptide travel to Thousand Oaks tomorrow for a game against the Conejo Oaks, before returning to the Great Park on Sunday for their last home game against the Santa Barbara Foresters at 4:30pm PST. 

OC Riptide vs. Arroyo Seco Saints July 30, 2021 – Box Score