PASADENA, Calif. — The OC Riptide dropped the series opener to the Saints on Thursday night, falling 11–4 in a game that got away early.
Bradley Navarro started the game off hot with a triple down the right field line, but the next three batters went down in order.
The Saints capitalized immediately in the bottom of the first, stringing together a pair of hits and drawing two walks to bring in the game’s first run. A sacrifice fly then extended the lead to 2-0.
Starting pitcher Alex Ramos ran into some trouble in the bottom of the second, allowing a bases-clearing double and two more extra-base hits as the Saints tacked on seven more runs before closing out the inning, making it 9-0.
Dylan Blakey entered in relief and stopped the bleeding, striking out the final batter of the inning. Blakey, alongside Noah Smith and Dylan Nieto, kept the Saints in check the rest of the way—something Coach Evans mentioned postgame, saying, “The bullpen pitched really well.”
Jonathan Rodriguez got the Riptide on the board with a monster two-run home run over the right field wall. In the eighth, Camden Sos reached on an infield single and scored on a base hit courtesy of Reid Montgomery.
Rodriguez capped off his night with an RBI double in the ninth, finishing 2-for-5 with three RBIs. While Navarro stood out at the plate, going 4-for-5 with a triple and three singles.
Despite the offensive momentum in the later innings, the Riptide couldn’t complete the comeback.
When asked about adjustments ahead of tomorrow’s rematch, Evans responded, “Energy was low, we need to get behind our teammates when we are down.”
The Riptide return home Saturday night at 7 pm to host the Saints in Game 2 of the series.
