Thousand Oaks, Calif. – The Orange County Riptide losing streak continues after falling 13-6 to the Conejo Oaks Saturday afternoon at Sparky Anderson Field. The Riptide jumped out to an early lead, but were unable to contain the Oaks’ production at the plate.

Davis Diaz (Vanderbilt) lead off the first inning with his rip down the right field line for a double. Terrence Simmons (UConn) moved Diaz to third with his groundout, which allowed Kolton Freeman (Dartmouth) to score Diaz after reaching first on an infield single. Clay Owens (USC) walked on his first trip to the plate to move Freeman into scoring position with one out.

Gavin Haimovitz (Santa Barbara CC) loaded the bases for the Riptide with his infield single. Austin Kryszczuk (UNLV) scored Freeman from third on a fielder’s choice at second base. Emillio Rosas (USC) earned an RBI with his single to right field that brought Owens home for the score, giving the Riptide a 3-0 lead over the Oaks.

Starting on the mound for the Riptide, Tony Robie (Texas St.) held the Oaks to only one run through five innings of pitching.

In the top of the sixth inning, Mason Grace (UC Riverside) reached first after being hit by a pitch and advanced to second following the walk of Dwight Allen (Georgia). Diaz then walked to make the bases loaded for the Riptide with no outs. Simmons managed to score Grace and Allen with his chopper through the middle for a single, making the score 5-1.

With bases loaded for the Oaks in the bottom of the sixth, Hayden Merda (Azusa Pacific) took the mound in relief of Robie. The Oaks went on to score eight runs in the inning, giving them a 9-5 lead over the Riptide.

The Oaks continued to produce at the plate in the bottom of the seventh with a solo homerun to increase their lead to 10-5.

Davis Diaz (Vanderbilt) gets the out at second and tries for the double play
Photo Credit: Alina Nelson

To start the top of the eighth, Allen reached first safely on a swinging third strike that got away from the catcher. He later advanced to second on a balk by the Oaks’ pitcher. Allen then stole third to give the Riptide a chance to score. Simmons drove in Allen with his RBI single to trim the Oaks lead to 10-6.

The Oaks added three more runs to the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth, giving them a seven run advantage over the Riptide going into the ninth inning.

Haimovitz lead off the ninth inning with a double to left and Kryszczuk followed with a walk. The Riptide were retired by strikes to close the game, making the final score 13-6.

The Riptide return to OC Great Park tomorrow at 4:30 P.M. (PDT) for their last home game of the season against the Santa Barbara Foresters.

OC Riptide vs. Conejo Oaks July 31, 2021 – Box Score