All Around Team Win Against the Unforgiving Riptide

IRVINE, CA – In an outstanding team effort win, the Saints (4-6) beat the OC Riptide (8-3) 8-3. The Saints came in with nothing to lose, having previously lost to the Riptide twice before.

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Starting pitcher Lincoln Lyons (Occidental College) held back the hitters from the Riptide, shutting out the first three innings. Lyons said, "[I was] trying to go out there and give our defense a good shot, and let the hitters do what they do."

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In the fourth inning, the Saints gained momentum and scored the game's first run. Jacob Freer (Undecided) was the Riptide's "beer-batter", promising beer in exchange for a strikeout. Tempting, however, Freer did not allow this to distract him. Freer went ahead and hit an off-the-wall triple, helping Carson Panarisi (Cal State Los Angeles) score. Freer expressed how being the beer-batter "gave [him] a little more of an edge to compete out there."

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The Riptide answered back in the fifth, tying it up and making it one all.

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The Saints then took off in the seventh with Brayden Flores' (Loyola Marymount University) bases-clearing double hit that sent Zach Liete (Old Dominion University), Evan Reiter (Santa Ana College), and Donnie Morgan (Loyola Marymount University) home. Carson Panarisi then hit an RBI single, sending Flores sliding into home, extending the Saints' lead to 5-1.

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Holding momentum for an entire game is something that cannot go unnoticed. The Saints refused to relax and finished with an additional three runs at the top of the ninth. Nick Nashiwa (Golden West College) scored off a wild pitch, and Isaiah Rios' (Undecided) single RBI earned Panarisi and Morgan runs to complete the amazing team effort by the Saints.

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The Saints are back home this Friday, June 19th, at Jackie Robinson Memorial Field to take on the Santa Barbara Foresters (10-1) once again. First pitch will be thrown at 5:35 p.m.

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Saints' reporter: Ava Goldson

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