Granger Studdard belted a booming home run to ignite a four-run third inning and lead the Santa Barbara Foresters to an 8-3 win over the Santa Paula Halos on Thursday in the California Collegiate League opener in Santa Paula.
Studdard, a key player in last year’s run to the NBC World Series title, reached base five times in the game.
The Foresters (3-0) took advantage of some unsettled pitching by Santa Paula. There were 12 walks, three wild pitches and two balks.
Forester pitchers also had some control problems as they walked eight and hit a batter.
Loyola Marymount right-hander Tylor Megill started and pitched one-hit ball for four innings. University of San Diego left-hander P.J. Conlan threw 1.2 scoreless innings, and University of San Francisco right-hander Mack Meyer pitched 1.2 scoreless innings before he surrendered three runs in the eighth. Caleb Duhay got the final out in the eighth inning and retired the side in order in the ninth.
