The Santa Barbara Foresters capped off a four-game homestand with an 8-4 victory over the San Diego Bombers on Monday at Eddie Mathews Field.
The Foresters are now 7-1 on the young summer season ahead of a road matchup with the Conejo Oaks on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Ventura College.
The Bombers actually struck first on Sunday with a run in the top of the first, but the Foresters answered with a Jake DeSpain (Golden West College) run-scoring groundout in the second and an RBI single by Makani Nabarro (Hawaii) in the third to take a 2-1 lead.
San Diego kept the pressure on in the fourth, plating a run on a wild pitch to even the score back up. Both offenses turned in scoreless fifth innings before the Santa Barbara bats came to life.
In the bottom of the sixth, a walk and a Bomber error put runners on second and third with one out for the ‘Sters. Landon Shaefer (Arkansas) then came through with a two-run single into left field to regain the advantage.
After a groundout, Shaefer scampered home on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 5-2 heading into the seventh.
San Diego got one of those runs back to trim the deficit to 5-3, but the Foresters weren’t done adding to their run total in the bottom of the seventh.
A pair of walks led the way for an RBI single by Caleb Hoover (Nebraska) to add an insurance run, while DeSpain provided the biggest blow of the frame with a two-run homer to bring the lead to 8-3.
The Bombers tacked on one run in the eighth, but Will Jordan (Texas Tech) finished his two-inning outing off with a scoreless ninth to secure the win for the Foresters.
Tanner Grove (Cal) got the start for Santa Barbara, allowing two runs on five hits in three innings of work. Henry Prindl (Creighton) earned the win for his two shutout innings of relief, while Max McGrady (Cal Lutheran) also contributed one inning out of the bullpen.