LINCOLN, CA- Despite two Potter long balls, the Saints held on to beat the Lincoln Potters 4-2 at McBean Stadium. 

Tommy Steier (Creighton) came out on fire for the Saints with three quick scoreless innings to begin the game. The right-hander threw 105 pitches on the night, with seven strikeouts in eight innings. 

“These coaches trust me a lot to let me throw strikes and let them hit it and trust my defense,” Steier said. “Even though I gave up two home runs, they just told me to put it over the plate and I think that’s why they trust me.” 

Jag Burden (UC Berkeley) started off the bottom of the second inning by hitting a fair ball blooper down the left field line. After back-to-back Saints strikeouts, Jackson Cobb (Crowder) continued to show his dominance in the nine-spot. Cobb hit an RBI triple that bounced over Potters left fielder Quinton Hall’s (Johnson County CC) head to take an early 1-0 lead.  

It took four innings for the Potter bats to catch fire, but Daniel Susac (Arizona) wasted no time at the plate. He tied up the game with the very first pitch of his at bat, and crushed a ball into left center field for a home run. 

Garrett Forester (Oregon State) then carried that momentum, as he smoked a double into right center field. Steier quieted the crowd and slowed down the pace, when he struck out Chase Stanke (Minnesota). Back-to-back groundouts to Brandon Bohning (Cal State Northridge) ended the inning. 

Steier gave up another home run, but this time to Mason Holt (Louisiana Monroe), who drilled a ball into left field to give the Potters a 2-1 lead. Steier settled down once again, as he struck out Hall. Drew Cowley (Cal Poly Pomona) made a grab at third base to end the fifth inning. 

“My mentality is that I’m better than the batter every at bat,” Steier said. “I just try to flush the home runs, and definitely be better the next at bat.” 

On the opposing mound, Brandon Gomez retired seven consecutive hitters with six strikeouts. Bohning snapped that streak in the bottom of the fifth, hitting a chopper to second and beating out the throw.  

Cobb delivered once again, as he drilled a line drive down the middle. With two runners on, Connor Bradshaw tied the game at two with a fielder’s choice. 

Jake McMurray (Oral Roberts) slammed an RBI double into right center field for the Saints to retake the lead. Peyton Lewis (Texas State) roped an RBI single into right field to expand their lead to 4-2.

Forrester continued to dominate against Steier, crushing a double into right center field to kick off the sixth inning. Steier got out of the inning once again, limiting the damage to just two runs.

“It’s great to have coaches trust me in that type of situation to get a ground ball,” Steier said. “I can’t say enough about these coaches and how great they’ve been to me, and I love being out here.” 

Connor Harrison (Hawaii) came in to relieve Gomez in the bottom of the sixth. Tommy Castillo (Long Beach State) came in as the designated hitter for Jake Cruce (San Diego State), and laid down a bunt for an infield hit. 

The Saints threated once again with a Bohning single to left field, but was caught stealing and thrown out at second. 

Steier went out for his eighth inning of work, but back-to-back base hits by Susac and Forrester kept the inning alive. A huge strikeout looking for Stanke kept the runners at bay, but Brandow slammed a base hit for it to be a bases loaded situation. Steier got out of the inning on a ground ball by Trey Furrey (Oklahoma Baptist U). 

Josh Cowden (Brigham Young) ripped a base hit to right field into a lead off double. Burden laid down a perfect bunt down the third base line and beat out the throw. Castillo laid down another flawless bunt, and there was no play. With the bases juiced, Cobb went 3-4 tonight, and found a gap in between the first and second baseman to extend their lead 6-2. 

Tommy Hannan (Cal Berkeley) came in at the top of the ninth and allowed a lead off single, but all three of his outs came from the last three batters to end the game. 

The Lincoln Potters face off against the Conejo Oaks on August 5 at 10 a.m. The winner will play the Healdsburg Prune Packers. 

The Saints take on the San Luis Obispo Blues in the semifinals at 7 p.m. 

Catch all the game action on the CCL Youtube and social media channels. 

Contributors

CCL Reporter Gianna Cefalu

CCL Photographers Sara Nevis, Angie Martinez

CCL Videographer Brandon Lin