The Foresters used a three-run ninth inning to propel them to a 4-1 win over the OC Riptide on Tuesday at Great Park.
With the win, Santa Barbara has now won eight straight games and sits in first place in the California Collegiate League while the Riptide dropped to second in the standings.
It was a pitcher’s duel for the majority of the game, with Tyler Valdez of Arizona State throwing for the Riptide and Wichita State’s Robert Cranz taking the mound for the Foresters.
The Riptide struck first with an RBI single in the bottom of the second to take a 1-0 lead. However, that was the only run they would score for the remainder of the game.
After four scoreless innings from both sides, Santa Barbara got on the board in the sixth thanks to an RBI sacrifice fly off the bat of outfielder Max Belyeu, tying the game up at 1-1.
That score would hold into the ninth frame, where the Foresters used some late-inning magic to eventually come out on top.
After the first two batters of the inning recorded outs, Westmont’s Daniel Patterson slapped a single and Kevin Michaels was hit by a pitch to get the rally started.
Eamonn Lance then broke the tie for the Foresters with an RBI single to score Patterson, and Will Rogers followed that up with an RBI single of his own to extend the lead to 3-1.
The last Santa Barbara run of the inning came on a wild pitch by the Riptide pitcher, giving the Foresters a more comfortable 4-1 lead heading to the bottom half of the ninth.
Despite the tying run coming to the plate, Blake Pivaroff secured the win with a scoreless bottom half of the ninth.
The Foresters (10-3, 7-3 California Coastal League) will host the OC Riptide on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Pershing Park.
