Saints Unable to Keep Lead Against Riptide

IRVINE, CA - The Arroyo Seco Saints (14-18) fell to the OC Riptide (24-14). Although taking the lead in the fifth the Saints ultimately lost their lead in the eighth, and the Riptide were able to close the game out ending in a 5-4 final.

Daniel Vergara (Undecided) started the game off strong, throwing three shutout innings. Vergara said, "I felt really good in my bullpen before everything and my pregame was great."

The Riptide were able to jump ahead early on a Ryan Castro ground out to bring in a run making it 1-0.

The Saints exploded in the fifth inning with a leadoff triple by Dylan Immel (Undecided). Owen Mangini (University of Nevada - Reno) drove a two run home run to give the Saints the lead, his third this season. 

"It felt great to be able to get a couple runs on the board," Mangini said. "It was a good at bat too. I'm just happy to help the team."

Brayden Flores (Loyola Marymount University) then laid a bunt down to bring in Brody Chyr (University of Nebraska). Sean Asperger (Undecided) hit a sac fly to cap off the Saints scoring, putting them up 4-1.

In the sixth, the Riptide heated up, starting with a Bradley Navarro double. The Riptide would continue this rally to tie the game up at 4.

The Riptide regained the lead on a Ian Nguyen single, bringing in Ryan Castro to put them up 5-4.

Now that the Saints are meeting crunch time to make a last minute effort to squeeze into playoffs, they are getting on the same page with the same goals.

"I think team morale is pretty high. None of the guys are hanging their heads, everyone is kind of locked in on what we got to do for these next couple of games," Vergara said.

The Saints will face the Riptide again tomorrow at Jackie Robinson Field with first pitch scheduled for 5:35 p.m..

Contributors:

• Saints Reporter: Leila El Sabbagh (University of La Verne)

• Saints Photographer: Dakota Gray