REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Baseball team (6-1, 2-1 SCIAC) completed the series sweep of Luther College Saturday afternoon at The Yard, coming back in the ninth inning for the win in game one, 8-7, and riding Nathan Buchan (Mercer Island, WA) to a 5-3 game two victory.
Game 1: Redlands 8 – Luther 7
The Bulldogs and Norse held each other off the scoreboard until the fourth when Luther scored on a double. In the bottom half of the inning Tyler Preece (Bellevue, WA) would come in on a wild pitch to tie the game at one.
Trailing 5-1 heading into the seventh the Bulldogs put together a five-run inning. Ian Umscheid (Beaumont, CA) started the inning off with a pinch hit double to right center. Rylan Morris (Fullerton, CA) then came up with a pinch hit RBI-double that brought home pinch runner Tyler Barsness (Palm Desert, CA).
After Caesar Correa (Redlands, CA) hit a sacrifice fly to center, Preece kept the line moving for run number four following a base knock through the left side. The tying run crossed the plate when Gabe Ceja (Long Beach, CA) beat out an infield single to shortstop. Sebastian Mejorado (Oceanside, CA) then gave Redlands their first lead, 6-5, with a single through the left side.
Luther made it 10 combined runs over two innings when they tied the game on a home run before going in front following a sacrifice fly.
Failing to score in the eighth the Bulldogs began the ninth with a double by Preece. Kirkland then fought off a pitch for a single that guaranteed at least extra innings.
Following a fly out and strikeout, Barsness got his opportunity with Kirkland standing on second base. He worked the count and delivered the walk-off double to left center that won the game for the Bulldogs.
In relief Miles Lu (San Jose, CA) and Gavin Duenez (Redlands, CA) combined for four innings with four strikeouts as Duenez picked up his second win.
Game 2: Redlands 5 – Luther 3
In the second game of the twin bill the Bulldogs got things started early with a four-run second inning all coming with two outs. Morris started the frame off with a walk and then moved up to second following a Jake Burgess (Riverside, CA) single up the middle. Luke Hanson (Escondido, CA) then loaded the bases after getting hit by a pitch. De Vries would then grab an RBI when he was also hit by a pitch.
Preece then hit a bases-clearing double that brought around Burgess, Hanson, and De Vries.
Another bases loaded hit by pitch in the fifth made it 5-0 Bulldogs as Hanson was the beneficiary this time.
The Norse pulled a run back in the seventh with a home run, but the Bulldogs took a 5-1 lead into the ninth inning. In that frame, things got a bit messy with the Norse getting two runners in scoring position and only one out. Brett Edwards (Santa Monica, CA) came in and grabbed a strikeout, but Luther would bring those two runners around following an error at third base. The final batter though would ground out as Redlands won their sixth-straight game.
Buchan went 8.1 Innings improving to 2-0 after giving up two runs on three hits, while striking out six. Edwards would grab his second save on the season. Preece finished 1-for-5 with three RBI's, Umscheid was 2-for-3 and De Vries, Burgess, and Kirkland would go 1-for-3.
The Bulldogs will try to finish the weekend perfect when they host the University of Puget Sound on Sunday, February 16 for a single game at 11:00 a.m. at The Yard.
