San Luis Obispo, Calif. – The Orange County Riptide lost their fourth matchup against the San Luis Obispo Blues 8-4 Saturday evening at Sinsheimer Park. The Riptide struggled to hold on to their three run lead as the Blue’s offense continued to produce at the plate. The blues scored at least one run in four consecutive innings, including four runs in the bottom of fifth. The Riptide scored one more run in the top of the seventh, but were unable to rally in time to defeat the Blues.
The Riptide offense started heating up at the plate in the top of the fourth inning. Spencer Serven (UT Rio Grande Valley) reached first on his base hit for a single and advanced all the way to third due to wild pitches. Emilio Rosas (USC) earned an RBI by driving in Serven from third with a single.
Following a pitching substitution by the Blues, Efrain Cervantes (Nebraska) slapped the second pitch thrown to him for a double that moved Rosas to third. Rosas later scored off a passed ball as Cervantes advanced to third. Davis Diaz (Vanderbilt) managed to score Cervantes with a solid hit through the infield for a single to stretch the Riptide lead to 3-0.
Tony Robie deals on the mound as he strikes out eight batters (Photo credit: Emily Sullivan)
Tony Robie (Texas State) started on the mound for the Riptide and shut out the Blues through the first three innings. The Blues offense scored their first run in the bottom of the fourth and went on to score four more in the fifth inning. After throwing for five innings and striking out eight Blues at the plate, Matthew Magre (Arkansas) subbed in for Robie to start the bottom half of the sixth as the Riptide trailed by two runs. Magre escaped the sixth with bases loaded while only allowing two runs cross home plate.
The Riptide responded in the top of the seventh by tallying one more run to their score. Terrence Simmons (UConn) got the inning started with his single and advanced to second after Austin Kryszczuk (UNLV) broke his bat on a groundout to the shortstop. Simmons scored off a blast to right-center by Reed Spenrath (TCU) as he cruised into second for a double.
The Blues added another run to their total in the bottom of the seventh inning. No runs were scored in the eighth and ninth inning, making the final score of the game 8-4 in favor of the Blues.
The Riptide return to OC Great Park in Irvine tomorrow at 4:30 P.M. (PDT) to play against the Conejo Oaks.
OC Riptide vs. SLO Blues July 17, 2021 – Box Score
