A return home became a welcome sight for the Foresters, whose offense rebounded by spotting Drew Van Orden to a huge lead as the Bakersfield Sound again lost big in Santa Barbara, 12-0.
The scoring started early for the Foresters, tacking two on the board in the first and two in the second before erupting for five in the third to put the game away,
Van Orden, the Foresters’ starter from Duke, cruised after the support from his offense, throwing six shutout innings to drop his ERA to a microscopic 0.41. He added eight strikeouts, including striking out the side in the second and carrying a no-hitter into the fifth inning. Bakersfield only managed three hits off of Van Orden and four for the game.
In the first, Austin Darby and Garrett Mattlage reached base and came home on a ground out by Ryan O’Hearn and a sacrifice fly for McClanahan respectively. Two more came home in the second after Justin Rahn singled and came home on a Louie Lechich triple. Mattlage followed that up with an RBI single to send home Lechich.
Mattlage finished 4-for-4 on the day, with a walk, two RBIs and two runs scored.
While the four runs in the first two innings gave the Foresters all the runs they would need, the five run third inning put the team in cruise control.
McClanahan opened the inning with a walk and Shane Hoelscher reached on an error, placing men at second and third with no outs. Keaton Jones promptly singled in both men and Lechich moved him to third with a single.
After Darby grounded out to score Jones, Mattlage continued his big day with an RBI single. Jacob Felts, who replaced Tyler Krieger after he was hit by a pitch, doubled in Mattlage to complete the scoring.
From there, the Foresters would scatter three more runs in the late innings to complete the blow out and let the Forester bullpen close the door. Tejay Antone, in his first relief appearance this season, threw a scoreless seventh with two strikeouts. Patrick Weigel threw the eighth, striking out a pair and Hunter Lemke closed the game out, striking out one.
The Foresters complete their weekend series with a game on Saturday at 5 p.m. against the Coast Union and on Sunday against the Bakersfield Sound at 1 p.m.
