The Santa Barbara Foresters secured their seventh straight win with a 13-9 victory over the MLB Academy Barons on Friday at Jackie Robinson Field in Pasadena.
The Foresters (11-1) provided a constant barrage of hits throughout the day on Friday to outlast the strong offensive performance from the Saints.
After Santa Barbara jumped ahead 3-0 after their first two at-bats, Arroyo Seco responded with a four-run bottom of the second to take the lead at 4-3.
The third then went scoreless, but the Foresters found their groove again at the plate with four runs in the fourth and another in the fifth to recapture the lead at 8-4 heading into the sixth.
Santa Barbara added onto its lead in the seventh with three more runs courtesy of Joseph Sandusky (Texas A&M) and Carter Rutenbar (Arkansas) roping RBI doubles.
Arroyo Seco plated five runs in the final two frames, but a two-run top of the ninth by the Foresters kept the lead comfortable and allowed them to come away with the win.
Caleb Hoover (Nebraska) paced the offensive attack by going 3-for-6 with a home run and six RBI. Meanwhile, Rutenbar turned in a 2-for-3 performance with two RBI and three runs scored.
Marcus Gries (TCU), Sawyer Farr (Texas A&M), Kurt Ippolito (Central Christian) and Zane Becker (Texas A&M)all had two hits as well, with Gries coming around to score three times from the leadoff spot.
On the bump, Calvin Proskey (UCSB) got the start for Santa Barbara and allowed two earned runs in three innings. He then handed the ball off to Noah Waldeck (Saint Mary’s), who fired three shutout frames to keep his team in the lead.
Henry Prindl (Creighton) and Lucien Wechsberg (Pepperdine) then handled the final three innings to finish off the win.
The Foresters and Saints will square off for a rematch on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Eddie Mathews Field.