RIPON — Fresh off its third-place finish in the Orestimba Tournament, Ripon Christian appears to be picking up steam heading down the final stretch of the Trans Valley League season with a 5-1 victory over Riverbank Tuesday.

The win, RC’s third in its last four games, avenged a previous loss to Riverbank, which prevailed 6-3 on March 20.

Clayton Prins was impressive from the hill for the Knights (1-8, 5-13 overall), as he struck out 11 while giving up just a single hit in six innings of work. Steve Vander Molen yielded a hit and fanned two in the seventh to seal it.

Arie Den Dulk supported Prins with a 2-for-3 performance from the plate. He drove in two with a double in the first inning and scored on two throwing errors on the same sequence.

Matt Unruh crushed a solo homer in the sixth, and Den Dulk, who followed with a single, later plated RC’s final run on an error. Justin Lemoine was 1 for 1 with two steals and a run.

Ripon Christian next heads to Riverbank (1-8, 4-13-1) today.

In Ripon, Sarah Nieweg had 11 strikeouts and allowed just three walks, but the solid effort would go for naught in the loss.

Nieweg hit a double and had an RBI, and Katie Thomas (2 for 3) drove in the other run.
Megan Hoeksema was 2 for 3 at the dish.