IRVINE, Calif. – In a highly contested and pivotal game for the Riptide, OC catcher Max Senesac (Loyola Marymount University) came up with a clutch walk-off single to propel the Riptide past the Arroyo Seco Saints at home by a final score of 2-1.
After they lost their third game in a row and sat a half-game back of the Saints in the California Collegiate League (CCL) standings, the Riptide’s Sunday night matchup with Arroyo Seco held massive playoff seeding implications.
With the team needing a stable presence on the mound, Riptide manager Connor Spencer turned to left-handed starting pitcher Sammy Cova (University of Oregon) to shut down a Saints lineup that scored 12 runs on the Riptide on Saturday night in Pasadena.
Sammy Cova delivered a strong start for the Riptide against the Saints, as he pitched seven innings and only allowed one run. (Photo courtesy Dingers Photography)
Cova answered the bell, as the Riptide starter tossed seven innings and only surrendered one run even though the Riptide made a whopping three errors in his time on the mound. Additionally, Cova limited free passes, with only one walk to complement an impressive eight strikeouts.
“Cova threw a ton of strikes and went right after guys,” Spencer said. “Arroyo Seco is a lefty-heavy lineup and we know that, so Cova came out and did his job.”
The bullpen followed Cova’s lead and came up huge for the Riptide late, as relievers Arthur Liu (Long Beach State University) and Jack Bunnell (University of San Diego) teamed up to toss three scoreless innings for OC and only allowed one hit combined across the final three frames.
“As I’ve said before, our pitching staff is very good and I like the arms that we have,” Spencer said. “Everyone that stepped on the mound tonight is a bulldog… we still made defensive mistakes tonight, but our pitching really picked us up.”
On the other side of the coin, the Riptide lineup struggled to find any success offensively through the first four innings.
However, in the fifth infielder Camden Bates (Arizona State University) provided the spark the Riptide needed with a blast over the left field fence for a solo home run to tie the game at one apiece heading into the sixth.
Over the next few innings, both teams managed to get runners on base, but could not find a timely hit to end the game, so the squads headed to extra innings tied 1-1.
After the Riptide held the Saints scoreless in the top of the tenth, OC went into the bottom of the inning with a golden opportunity to walk it off at home and end their losing streak.
With runners at the corners and no outs, Max Senesac came to the plate and looked to deliver the final blow to send the Saints home packing.
Senesac did just that, as he smoked an RBI single down the first base line to secure a 2-1 victory for the Riptide at home.
“It’s nice to come through for the boys,” Senesac said. “I was just trying to put it in play and it ended up working in our favor.”
With the win the Riptide improved to 17-14 and moved to third place in the CCL South standings ahead of the Saints.
Still, the team faces some challenges in the home stretch of the season with injuries stacking up and key players such as infielder Ace Reese (Mississippi State University) departing from the team for the summer. Coach Spencer acknowledged that the team must rely on its pitching to carry the load heading into the playoffs, and will need big-time performances from their top arms in their most crucial games down the stretch.
“Our pitching is very good, and if the guy on the hill pitches well then we’re going to have a chance no matter how many mistakes we make,” Spencer said. “For us it’s about slowing the game down, making the routine plays we need to make and our offense doing just enough to pick up our pitching.”
The squad will take a day off before heading back up to Pasadena to complete their three-game set with the Saints on Tuesday, July 22.
