LA VERNE, Calif. – The University of Redlands Baseball team (7-3, 2-2 SCIAC) upset No. 21 University of La Verne 8-3 Friday afternoon thanks to a seven-run seventh inning.
The Bulldogs had a slow offensive start as they scored once through 6.2 innings as starter Tyler Reiter (San Diego, CA) and reliever Jakob Russell (Fontana, CA) kept them in the game thanks to a combined six innings giving up only three runs to that point.
The lone run for the Maroon and Grey came in the third inning when Nathan Miller (San Jose, CA) brought home Luke De Vries (Irvine, CA) on a sacrifice fly to right after De Vries led off the inning with a walk.
Then in the seventh the Bulldogs found their offense erupting for seven runs on four hits. De Vries started the inning off with a single to right and moved up to second two batters later with Tyler Preece (Bellevue, WA) drawing a walk. After a flyout that put two outs on the board Cade McClelland (Mission Viejo, CA) kept the inning alive with a walk that loaded the bases. Ceasar Correa (Redlands, CA) then came in as a pinch hitter and he too drew a walk bringing in one making it a one run game. Ian Umscheid (Beaumont, CA) was then called upon as another pinch hitter and he sent one into center that plated the game-tying and eventual game-winning runs giving UR a 4-3 lead.
The rally continued with Will Cell (Seattle, WA) who came up with an RBI-single to center scoring Correa followed by First-Year catcher Mason Chetcuti (Redwood City, CA) who received a free pass all in front of De Vries who would pick up a trio of RBI's with a single to left-center pushing the lead to five, 8-3, only six batters after La Verne was one out away from getting out of the inning.
Russell proceeded to get the Leopards in order in the seventh and eighth, while working around a two-out walk and a steal to get his first win of the season.
This was Russell's fifth appearance of the season and the third time he's gotten more than three outs as he finished with 3.1 scoreless innings along with five strikeouts.
De Vries reached base four times with two runs scored and three RBI's. Preece walked three times and scored a run and Cell finished 2-for-5.
As a team the Bulldogs were outhit 8-6, but they were able to draw 12 walks, while their pitching staff only conceded four free passes.
Redlands and La Verne's doubleheader scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, March 2 has been moved to Sunday, March 3 due to the rain in the forecast. The twin bill is slated for 11:00am and 2:00pm at The Yard.
