IRVINE, Calif. – After coming off back-to-back wins, the OC Riptide extended their winning streak to three by defeating the Conejo Oaks at home by a final score of 8-4.
It was a strong bounce-back start for Riptide starting pitcher right-hander Luke Sterner (Bringham Young University) who threw the first four innings for OC and only allowed one run on three hits.
Sterner especially found success with his putaway pitches as he struck out eight Oaks hitters with three caught looking.
“Today [it was] back to normal with him,” manager Connor Spencer said. [He got] first pitch strikes early and got downhill. When things started to get away from him he was able to collect himself and get soft contact when he needed to get soft contact. I think it was a nice solid outing for him.”
The Riptide offense backed up Sterner by striking first, as outfielder Matthew Thomas (University of California) smacked a triple against the right-center fence to lead off the bottom of the second and was brought home on a ground ball from Luke Johnson (Cornell University).
The lineup tacked on another run in the third as outfielder Michael Diaz (Grand Canyon University) came into score off of a bases-loaded walk.
Although the Riptide were held scoreless through the next three innings, the squad put together an impressive bottom of the seventh to add some much-needed insurance to their 2-1 lead heading into the inning.
Once again, it was the meat of the Riptide order that came through, as infielder Ace Reese (University of Houston) singled and was later brought home by a Thomas RBI single.
The single helped cap off a 2-2 night for Thomas at the plate, who also walked three times and reached base in all five of his plate appearances. He explained how staying calm helped him remain patient at the plate and put in productive at-bats.
“I think meditation is a big thing [for me],” Thomas said. “I’m just trying to relax up there and trying to find a good pitch to hit.”
Luke Johnson kept the offense humming, and followed Thomas’ at-bat with an RBI double to continue his recent hot streak while extending the Riptide lead to four at 5-1.
Johnson then proceeded to steal home and caught the Oaks napping, which ignited the Riptide dugout, as he capped off a 2-4 night at the plate with a stolen base from third.
The Riptide bats continued to pour it on in the eighth as Diaz, Patrick Hackworth (University of California San Diego) and Max Senesac (Loyola Marymount University) all scored to extend the Riptide lead to 8-1.
“I told the offense I think this group is starting to make adjustments on the fly, [which is] something I’ve been trying to get them to do,” Spencer said. “I think with the addition of Diaz and Hackworth into the lineup and Reese really coming around, it takes a lot of pressure off of some of the bats that are trying to figure it out. I’m excited moving forward to see what this offense can do.”
The Oaks threatened a bit in the ninth, but ultimately came up short as the Riptide closed out an 8-4 win at home.
The victory was the team’s third in a row and has the squad riding some momentum into the weekend.
“It’s huge, I mean the team is psyched right now,” Thomas said. “We’ve got a trip to Santa Barbara tomorrow hopefully we’ll have some fun out there and get a good win.”
With the win, the Riptide moved into third place in the CCL south and have gone 5-2 in their last seven games. The team will look to continue their win streak this weekend as they head up to Santa Barbara to take on the Foresters on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
