The Santa Barbara Foresters dropped the penultimate game of their regular season to the San Luis Obispo Blues by a score of 10-8 on Saturday at Eddie Mathews Field.
The Foresters (25-6-1) and Blues will square off for a rematch to round out the regular season back at Eddie Mathew Field on Sunday at 2 p.m.
After two scoreless frames to begin the game, Santa Barbara jumped out in front with three runs in the bottom of the third to take an early lead.
However, the Blues swung back in a major way by pouring on seven runs in the top of the fifth to take a four-run lead.
The ‘Sters got one run back in the bottom of the fifth to cut the deficit to 7-4, but that score held until the top of the ninth inning.
San Luis Obispo then put together what proved to be an important rally in the ninth, pushing across three runs to extend its lead to 10-4.
Those runs were crucial, because the Forester offense woke back up in the bottom half of the ninth.
Nick Salmon provided the biggest blow with a three-run homer, and Donovan LaSalle followed with an RBI double to make it 10-8.Â
However, Santa Barbara’s rally was then stifled with the tying run at the plate to give the Blues the win.
Carter Rutenbar led the Forester offense by going 3-for-5 with two runs scored, while Brady Janusek, Zane Becker and Joseph Sandusky tallied two hits apiece.
