Saints' late-inning heroics continue, scoring three in the 7th to sweep Crawdads

PASADENA, CA—On Thursday evening, the. After the Crawdads scored four in the third inning, Arroyo Seco could've given up. Instead, it responded. Time after time. Eventually, the Saints' offense was too much, pulling away for an 8-5 win and sweeping their two-game set against the second-place Crawdads.

Following the Crawdads' third-inning explosion, the Saints scored four in the fourth. Jacob Freer (Undecided) hit his first home run of the year, and Brandon Nguyen (Undecided) continued his torrid stretch with a run-scoring double. And after Walnut Creek scored one in the fifth, Arroyo Seco responded with one of its own in the bottom half.

For the game's next runs, the Saints didn't wait for the Crawdads. After entering the bottom of the seventh tied, the Saints scored three in the frame, all with two outs. Brayden Flores (Loyola Marymount University) took the lead with an RBI single, and Zach Leite (Old Dominion University) added on with a ground-rule double that scored two.

Starting pitcher Joe O'Regan (University of Nevada, Reno) threw six solid frames, even without his best stuff, striking out five and working around heavy traffic on the basepaths. 

The resurgent Saints bullpen also had a great game, with Angel Escobar (Mississippi Valley State), Tyler Hawkins (Bucknell University) and Dylan Hoang (Villanova University) all throwing scoreless frames. In both games against the Crawdads, the Saints bullpen was clutch, helping keep the games within striking distance because of the reliable hitting their offense provided.

"All the All-Stars came together at the top of the order," O'Regan said. "If pitchers throw strikes and the offense gets timely hits, it's going to be very tough to beat us."

All-Star Brayden Flores has been a force for the Saints, hitting over .350 with a team-leading 22 RBIs, including two clutch ones on Thursday night.

"I don't really think about tying the game; I just stay in my approach," Flores said. "We just capitalized on and trusted everything that we worked for."

Although the Saints are only through the first five games of July, there is a distinct difference in the quality of play. The Saints' pitching, hitting and fielding have all leveled up as the summer calendar hit July.

After an off day on Friday, the Saints are back in action on Saturday away against the Conejo Oaks in Ventura. First pitch is at 4:05 PM PDT at Ventura College. 

Contributors:

• Saints Reporter: Joshua Krueger (Baylor University)

• Saints Photographer: Dakota Gray