Sters 6-Brewers 3
by Nate Loop
As the Foresters stare down a crucial six game road trip, they made certain that the fans would have something to remember them by. The Foresters used a big third inning, keyed by a two-run homer by Austin Davidson, to surge past the Brewers and leave the fans with a memento in the form of a 6-3 victory.
Local baseball fans were treated to an interesting pitching matchup of UCSB teammates. Andrew Vasquez took the mound for the Foresters, and fellow Gaucho Jared Wilson started the game for the Brewers.
Vasquez used his slider to great effect in his work on the mound, but was unable to escape the game unscathed.
In the third inning, Morgan Micken came through with a one-out single, followed by a broken-bat bloop single by Josh Fuentes which allowed Micken to move to third. Vasquez needed a double play ball, but the chopper by Travis Clark was too high and he reached first safely on the fielder’s choice, allowing Micken to scamper home on the play.
Following a steal of second by Clark, Daryl Miller hit a sharp grounder straight up the middle that looked like an easy pick for Richy Pedroza at short, but the ball bounced off of his foot, allowing Miller to reach safely and Clark to come around to score for the early 2-0 Brewers lead.
Jared Wilson looked to be on cruise control for the first couple of innings, but the wheels fell off in the third inning.
After giving up a walk to Richy Pedroza, Austin Davidson came to the plate for the Sters. Wilson left a fastball dangling over the middle of the plate, and Davidson turned on it, sending it high into the air and over the right field fence for a game-tying two run homer.
The Foresters have struggled all season stringing together hits, but Davidson’s home run seemed to spark the rest of his teammates, as they caught fire immediately following his blast.
Kaeo Aliviado singled, and Wilson hit Arby Fields to send him to first base. Cal Vogelsang then singled to score Aliviado to put the Foresters in the lead 3-2, and the inning was hardly over. Richard Sanguinetti singled to move Fields to third and Vogelsang to second base. Ryan O’Hearn struck out swinging for the second out, but catcher Jacob Felts came through with a clutch single, scoring Fields and Vogelsang on the play. When the dust settled, the Foresters had a comfortable 5-2 lead.
Manager Bill Pintard had Vasquez on a pitch count, and he turned to the Foresters excellent bullpen to carry on the success in the fourth inning, starting with the fireballer Jason Hursh.
Hursh pitched well enough in his two innings of work, but did give up a solo home run to Micken in the fifth inning that kept the game close at 5-3.
The Foresters hitters seemed to revert back to their old ways, as they looked surprisingly ineffective against Wilson after that big third inning.
The Foresters were able to cash in an insurance run in the bottom of the eight inning, with Sanguinetti scoring from third on a fielding error by left fielder Joey Bielek to give the Foresters a 6-3 lead.
Hunter Lemke came in to close out the 9th inning, and did so in dominant fashion, going 1-2-3 with two strikeouts looking.
Albert Minnis (1-0) notched an unconventional first win, as his 6th inning was the most effective relief performance with the Foresters lead in hand. Lemke picked up his team high 6th save of the season.
The Foresters go on the road, with three games against the San Luis Obispo Blues followed by another three game series with the Los Angeles Brewers, who actually play in Orange County.
The Sters finally return home to a three game series against the Bakersfield Braves on Tuesday, July 24th.
