Santa Barbara, Calif. – The Orange County Riptide losing streak continues after falling 15-9 in an offensive display vs. the Santa Barbara Foresters at Pershing Park Saturday night. The Foresters jumped out to an early lead in the first inning and had a scoring surge near the end of the game. The Riptide managed to score seven runs, including four runs in the fifth inning, but it was not enough surpass the Forester’s offensive output.
Reed Spenrath (TCU) hit for a double with two outs to give the Riptide an opportunity to tie the Foresters in the Top of the second. He later scored off an error by the shortstop during Efrain Cervantes’s (Nebraska) at-bat.
To get the third inning rolling, Tyler Griggs (Central Arizona) reached first with his singled and advanced safely after stealing second. Austin Kryszczuk (UNLV) delivered at the plate with his ground-rule double scoring Griggs. Up next at the plate, Kolton Freeman (Dartmouth) earned a run by scoring Kryszczuk with a single.
Cade Connolly (Santa Clara) started on the mound for the Riptide tonight and threw for the first four innings. He allowed three runs to score while striking out two batters before being subbed out with Ethan Holt (California San Diego) in the fifth inning.
Griggs reached first on an error by the first baseman to get the fifth inning underway. Kyle Booker (Tennessee) moved Griggs into scoring position with his single. Kryszczuk walked following Booker’s plate appearance to make the bases loaded. Griggs later scored off a wild pitch during Freeman’s at-bat. Freeman proceeded to hit a single that drove in Booker from third.
Kolton Freeman (Dartmouth) charges the base path to safely reach first
Following a pitching substitution by the Foresters, Edarian Williams (UNLV) blasted a hit for a double that scored Kryszczuk and Freeman, giving the Riptide a 7-3 lead. The Foresters responded quickly by putting up two runs to end the fifth inning.
The Foresters resumed their intensity in the sixth inning at the plate by scoring five runs, stretching their lead by three runs. Shawn Hepler (Xavier) took the mound midway through the sixth inning and retired the side with a strikeout.
After allowing two runs to score in the bottom of the seventh, Andrew Pogue (Illinois) stepped in for Hepler. The Foresters continued to attack at the plate an added on another pair of runs to make the score 14-7.
To start the ninth, Booker reached first base off a single and advnaced to second courtesy of Kryszczuk’s base hit. Eric Bigani (UNLV) spurred a wild play with his single to right field, leading to an error by the right fielder that scored Booker from second.
Kryszczuk scored his third run of the day during Williams’s trip to the plate, making the final score 15-9 in favor of the Foresters.
The Riptide play again tomorrow against the MLB Academy Barons at 1:00 P.M. (PDT) in Compton, California.
OC Riptide vs. Santa Barbara Foresters July 10, 2021 – Box Score
