The University of Redlands baseball team took to The Yard under sunny conditions Monday afternoon to face off against the No.22 Cal Lutheran University Kingsmen in the Bulldogs' second Final-Four match-up of Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play. After working to regain a lead towards the latter part of the game, the Bulldogs were unable to hold onto the small advantage despite drawing two lead-off walks in the ninth inning, thus resulting in a 5-6 defeat.

The Bulldogs hopped on the board first in the bottom of the second inning, compliments of sophomore designated hitter Joey Warner's (Indio, CA) RBI-single to left-center field, which scored senior third baseman Mark Tumlinson (Anaheim, CA) for the Bulldogs' early 1-0 lead.

However, the Kingsmen responded with three runs in the top of the third inning, putting further pressure on the Bulldogs.

Warner continued to swing the stick well in the bottom of the fourth inning by notching another RBI-knock, this time plating senior right-fielder Christian Gurrola (Torrance, CA) with a single up the middle to trim the team's deficit to 2-3.

Senior starter Kevin Stevens (Highland, CA) began to settle in by tossing up a zero the next half-inning, furthering the Maroon and Gray's chances to attack offensively.

And attack it did, as Redlands grabbed the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, starting when junior first baseman John Keane (Clayton, CA) drove a single up the middle to score sophomore shortstop Will Hall (Seattle, WA) and tie the game. Gurrola came up big with two outs in the inning and drove a tailing line-drive single to center field, pushing senior left-fielder Mitch Samson (Orangevale, CA) across the dish to snag the Bulldogs' lead back at 4-3.

Regretfully for the Bulldogs, a defensive miscue tied the game up at 4-all entering into the bottom of the sixth inning.

Nevertheless, after sophomore reliever Adam Stead (Rialto, CA) set down Cal Lutheran in order in the top of the seventh inning, the offense went back to work and regained the lead in the ensuing half-inning. Keane continued to plate runs, this time sending Hall home via sacrifice ground-out for Redlands' 5-4 advantage.

Unfortunately, the Kingsmen put up a two-spot in the top of the eighth, ultimately handing a 5-6 loss to the Bulldogs.

Warner paced the offensive effort with two RBI-base hits, while Gurrola had yet another three-hit day. Hall scored twice to go along with a hit and two walks.

Stevens allowed nine hits in 5.2 innings of action with four strikeouts, while Stead chucked an inning, gave up a run, and was tagged with the loss.

The Bulldogs (24-13, 16-10 SCIA)C face off against the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges Stags on Tuesday, May 3, at 3 p.m. in Claremont for the final regular-season game.