PASADENA, CA- The Arroyo Seco Saints (16-13) came into their game against the OC Riptide on Saturday night in a weird spot. They had just put up 18 runs the night before against the Oaks, but the game was unable to be completed before the lights went out, so they didn’t have the satisfaction of having a win under their belt. They will have to complete the game at a later date. Going out and putting up another great offensive performance while keeping things under control defensively was going to be key for the Saints as they looked to get back into the win column officially. 

The first inning got rocky early for left-handed starter Spencer Seid (UC San Diego), who surrendered back-to-back singles to the first two batters he faced to put runners on first and second with nobody out. But the third batter hit a line drive right at Jakob Schardt (Fullerton), giving Seid his first out. And then, the Saints got a lucky bounce as a hard ground ball that deflected off of Seid and ricocheted right to Tyler Gordon (Portal), who started a 6-4-3 double play that Sheehan O’Connor (New Mexico State) turned to end the inning with the score still 0-0. 

Gordon said that the middle infield duo of him and O’Connor is one he is excited about.  

“Me and Sheehan have been talking about how we’re going to turn like six double plays a game,” Gordon said. “We got one today at least.”  

In the bottom of the first, Alex Birge (UC Berkeley) backed up his batterymate Seid in a big way. With what appeared to just be a flick of his wrists, Birge crushed an opposite-field two-run home run over the left-center field fence to give the Saints an early 2-0 lead.  

The homer also, momentarily, gave him a share of the Saints’ team home run lead, alongside Schardt.  

Seid received help from his infield in the top of the second, as he got out of the inning without allowing a run after inducing three groundouts.  

The Saints went down in order in the bottom of the second but still held a 2-0 lead heading into the third.  

Seid entered a groove in his third inning of work, setting the Riptide side down in order and recording two strikeouts. The Saints, however, also went down in order in the bottom of the third.  

Conversely, the Riptide got their offense going in the top of the fourth, scoring three runs to take a 3-2 lead.  

Despite having the middle of their lineup coming up in the bottom of the fourth, the Saints couldn’t get those runs back and went down scoreless with only one baserunner. 

The Riptide added a run in the top of the fifth after putting together a two-out rally. After recent bullpen performances, the Saints needed to be careful of letting the game get out of hand.  

Fortunately, the Saints put together a great inning on offense in the bottom of the fifth. Gordon struck first and struck hard with an RBI double that caught the Riptide defense by surprise. Gordon is typically a high-contact singles hitter, but he showed off his gap power on the big hit.  

“I’m just looking for a fastball and [the Riptide pitcher] kind of just left one right down the plate,” Gordon said. It was a cookie, and I was able to just barrel it and got it in the left-center gap it was pretty nice.” 

Easton Elliot (Long Beach State) followed up with an RBI single of his own later in the inning to tie the game at 4-4, which is where the score remained as the half-inning ended.  

Tyler Herges (Azusa Pacific) pitched a clean top of the sixth to keep the game even and allow the hot Saints offense to go ahead.  

They did just that and in the most thrilling way possible. Joey Donnelly (UC Berkeley) did what “Just Doubles,” as they’re calling him now, always does and crushed an RBI double to the opposite field to give the Saints the lead.  

That was not even the biggest swing of the inning. Livingston, perhaps motivated by his best friend Alex Birge regaining a share of the team lead in home runs earlier in the night, crushed a no-doubt 396-foot two-run bomb to extend the Saints lead to 7-4 and send the dugout into a frenzy. For the second consecutive night, it looked like the Saints offense was clicking on all cylinders.  

A big part of the recent offensive success has been the trio in the middle of the lineup of Birge, Donnelly, and Livingston, who call themselves “The Gauntlet,” and they are confident nobody wants to face them right now. 

“We’re just ‘The Gauntle,’” Birge said. “We could be hitting seven-eight-nine and it’s still the Gauntlet.” 

The Riptide got a run back in the top of the seventh to make the score 7-5, temporarily giving the Orange County team hope.  

But the Saints all but ended any hopes the Riptide had of winning the game in the bottom of the seventh. Birge picked up another RBI in the bottom of the seventh with a single, and Sheehan O’Connor (New Mexico State) continued his hot extra-base hitting with a two-run ground-rule double to deep left-center field, knocking in two more and extending the Arroyo Seco lead to five runs, 10-5.  

As it turned out, the Saints were cooking defensively too. A web gem by Gordon highlighted a scoreless top of the eighth, as the shortstop dove to his left to snag a sharp grounder, got up and fired the ball to first all in one motion, beating the Riptide runner by a step to keep the score at 10-5.  

Gordon, who has been a star for the Saints defensively, said that the Saints’ recent team success on defense has helped him to play more freely. 

“It’s pretty nice that we have a good infield,” Gordon said. “We’re just playing our spot and doing what we do.” 

But the Saints weren’t done offensively. Schardt couldn’t stand losing the home run lead, so he crushed a home run for the second straight night to center field. It’s become absurd when it seems like one of the Saints batters has finally taken the team home run lead, another Saints power bat changes that in the same game. 

Schardt loves the friendly competition, which he thinks has challenged him to be a better baseball player. 

“On my last at-bat, I heard them say ‘get your fourth,’” Schardt said. “Of course I’m not going for a home run, but that might have helped a little bit. It gave me a little motivation, and when I came in the dugout, they were very supportive…we want each other to hit the most home runs which is pretty awesome.”  

 Schardt holds the team lead with four.  

It won’t be for long if Livingston and Birge have anything to say about it. 

“I called it after me and Birge both went deep, I was like Schardt’s gonna get his at some point,” Livingston said. “He’s got four, and every time he separates himself, we kind of strike back, me and Birge…and we’re playing in Great Park tomorrow and I love to hit at Great Park.” 

Livingston’s last appearance at Great Park came on Taylor Swift night. The slugger went 3-for-4 with a homer and started an insane hot streak at the plate, for which he at least partially credited beginning to listen to more of the pop singer’s music after he saw so much success that night.  

“Hopefully it’s Taylor Swift night again tomorrow,” Livingston said. 

One more run came across after the homer in the bottom of the eighth to give the Saints a 12-5 lead. 

Saints closer Braydon Sanford (Oral Roberts) came in and pitched a breezy, stress-free top of the ninth to close out a 12-5 win.  

Three of the biggest heroes were “The Gauntlet” themselves, Birge, Donnelly, and Livingston. Birge went 2-for-4 with the home run, three RBI, and a walk, Donnelly went two-for-five with the RBI double, and Livingston went 2-for-4 with the homer, two RBIs, and a walk in his own right. They accounted for 6 RBIs combined, which would have still beaten the Riptide by themselves.  

The Saints will face the Riptide again tomorrow night in Irvine at Great Park, as Livingston mentioned, at 7 pm. Carter Herrera (Cal State San Bernadino) will take the mound for the Saints, and there should be offensive fireworks if the Saints’ recent history against the Riptide holds up.  

“We talked about it before the game today, we had the Riptide on the schedule, it had been a while since we’d played them, we love hitting against the Riptide, something about that Blue and Orange really makes the ball pop,” Livingston said.  

Each of Birge’s three and Livingston’s three home runs have all come against the Riptide. Tune in to see if they will hit another tomorrow night and regain a share of the home run lead.  

Contributors: 

• Saints reporter Ethan Inman (Southern California)
• Saints reporter Noah Pineda (UT Austin)
• Saints photographer Armando Jacobo (Long Beach)