Max Belyeu delivered a RBI double in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Foresters to a 2-1 win over the OC Riptide in a well-pitched California Collegiate League game on Saturday at Pershing Park.
The pitchers on both sides each allowed only three hits.
Santa Barbara starter Kolby Kmetko gave up two hits in four shutout innings. Zane Petty gave up one hit and a run in the eighth inning. The pair combined for 12 strikeouts, with Petty fanning nine in five innings of work.
OC’s Jack Kirrer allowed one run, two hits and three walks and struck out five in 5.2 innings. Reliever Reed Schaefer pitched two innings and gave up Belyeu’s game-winning double. Sam Hasegawa pitched to one hitter.
The Foresters broke a scoreless game in the sixth. Will Rogers singled for the team’s first hit and scored on a double by Belyeu.
The Riptide tied the score in the eighth. Cooper Dulich drew a walk off Petty, advanced to second on a wild pitch and game him on a double by Dulich.
In the eighth, Eamonn Lance drew a one-out walk and was sacrifice to second by Rogers. Belyeu hammered a 3-1 pitch into the right-field gap to score Lance for the eventual game-winning run.
With the win, the first-place Foresters (18-6) moved four games ahead of the Riptide (15-10) in the CCL standings
The Foresters travel to Irvine on Sunday for the second game of a two-game series against the Riptide.