PASADENA, CA – On Friday July 25^th, the Arroyo Seco Saints (15-18) faced the Orange County Riptide (22-12) at Jackie Robinson Field.

Coming into the matchup, both teams had three games remaining in the regular season. In their previous games, both teams have two victories apiece.

The Saints coaching staff chose Tyler Herges (Azusa Pacific) to start on the mound for the squad. Herges shared how important it was to set the tone for his team as the starting pitcher for this matchup.

“My job is to go out there and throw strikes, get as many outs as I can, and give our offense time to work,” Herges explained. “[Also] allow my defense to not get flat out there because that’s on me.”

In the first inning, Riptide’s infielder Jake Evans (Cal State Long Beach) was able to get on base with a ground-rule double. Carter Danz (Northwestern) followed with a 2-run homerun adding the first two runs to the board for the Riptide.

The Saints looked to chip away at the Riptide’s early lead and two hitters got on base. Both Jacob Freer (Azusa Pacific) and Levi Maddela singled to get on base. Freer crossed the plate on a throwing error by the Riptide.

In the next two innings, Herges had 1-2-3 innings allowing no runs for the Riptide. The Saints’ offense put up a few base hits, but no one was able to get across the plate in the second and third innings.

The Riptide added another run to the board in the fourth inning with an RBI single from Henry McDonald (transfer portal). Lane Haworth (UTSA) singled and then scored off a wild pitch, making the score 3-2 after the fourth inning.

To extend their lead further, the Riptide added two runs to the board off wild pitches. Reid Montgomery (Long Beach State) put up the second homerun of the night for the Riptide, tallying the score to 7-2 at the end of the fifth inning.

Both teams were scoreless through the next two innings. At the bottom of the eighth, Haworth doubled to get on base. Keon Moseni (Central Arkansas) grounded out to bring in Haworth. Then, Joey Milto (transfer portal) scored off a wild pitch after he was walked to get on base.

In the final inning of the game, the Riptide scored one on a wild pitch. Riley Hunsaker (California Baptist University) added an RBI single. To make it 11 runs, Bradley Navarro (University of Utah) put up a 2-run RBI single.

The Saints tried to comeback from the Riptide’s lead in the ninth, but only added one more to the board with an RBI groundout from Jackson Reed (Seattle University).

Offensively, the Saints had a total of seven hits and six of the Saints hitters had at least one hit on the night.

Herges was able to pitch a total of four innings with six strikeouts and only allowed three of the Riptide’s 11 runs. In a post-game interview, Herges explained his mentality while on the mound.

“There’s some good things but there is definitely some things I need to work on,” Herges said. “I wish I could have put our team in a better [place] to win but a lot to learn from regardless of the outing, good and bad.”

Looking ahead, the Saints will face the Orange County Riptide but at their home stadium at The Great Park in Irvine, CA at 7:00 p.m. PST on Saturday.

Contributors:

• Saints reporter Taylor Dowdy (Arizona)
• Saints photographer Carina Sanchez (Cal State Los Angeles)