REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Baseball team (3-1, 2-1 SCIAC) won their third-straight game as they secured an 8-1 upset win over No. 10 East Texas Baptist University (ETBU) Tuesday afternoon at The Yard.
The scoring got started in the second when the Bulldogs' CJ Brown (El Cajon, CA) singled to center plating Jake Burgess (Riverside, CA) and Kaiya Saito (Bellevue, WA) giving UR an early 2-0 lead.
Will Cell (Seattle, WA) then advanced Brown to second on a bunt single, but they would both get stranded after a strikeout.
Following a strikeout to begin the fifth, Rylan Morris (Fullerton, CA) got the offense started with a single up the middle. A pop out to the shortstop put two outs on the board ahead of Mark Kirkland (Redlands, CA). Kirkland would take advantage of the at-bat and triple home Morris. The next batter, Gabriel Ceja (Long Beach, CA), then made it 4-0 as he singled down the left field line.
In the sixth the Bulldogs found themselves in the same position as the fifth, a runner at first and two away. Cell got the opportunity this time and he came through with a single through the 3-4 hole to keep the inning alive for the top of the order and Morris. Morris made the Tigers pay as he plated both Burgess and Cell on Redlands' second triple of the day.
Following the first Tiger run, which came on a ground out, in the top of the eighth, Ceja added a pair of RBI's to his total as Kirkland and Tyler Preece (Bellevue, WA) crossed home plate moving the score to 8-1.
It was a bullpen day for the Maroon and Grey as they threw nine different pitchers all throwing one complete. Tanner Currier (Brawley, CA) got his first career start and Gavin Duenez (Redlands, CA) picked up the win after a scoreless second. Miles Lu (San Jose, CA) and Kethan Efron (Henderson, NV) each had two-strikeout innings coming in the third and sixth.
Redlands will now prepare to host Luther College for a three-game series this Friday-Saturday, February 14-15 with a single game on Friday at 2:00pm and a doubleheader taking place at The Yard on Saturday at 11:00am and 2:00pm.
