LA VERNE, Calif. – A close game one loss, 11-10, and a low-scoring game two win, 6-3, led to the University of Redlands Baseball team (16-9, 5-4 SCIAC) splitting with No. 12 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) Saturday afternoon.
Game 1 (L, 11-10)
The Bulldogs fell behind early as they conceded three runs in the first. The offense, though, put two on the board in the second on a Mason Chetcuti (Redwood City, CA) RBI-single and a wild pitch later in the inning.
Redlands then took the 6-5 lead in the third when Ian Umscheid (Beaumont, CA) singled home Tyler Preece (Bellevue, WA) and Nate Miller (San Jose, CA) followed with a big three-run home run that brought around Gabriel Ceja (Long Beach, CA) and Umscheid.
CMS then reclaimed the lead with a single and three-run double in the seventh and pushed ahead by three, 9-6. In the eighth, though, it looked like the Bulldogs would complete the comeback thanks to a Jake Burgess (Riverside, CA) double, a Cade McClelland (Mission Viejo, CA) two-run single, and a second run-scoring wild pitch.
The Stags, however, would push two across in the bottom of the ninth thanks to two singles as they secured the series win.
The six-through-nine hitters for the Maroon and Grey had seven of the 10 hits and seven of eight RBI's. Ceja was 2-for-4 scoring three runs and a walk, Miller was 2-for-4 scoring three and driving in three and Burgess was 1-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI.
Erik Radder (San Diego, CA) got the start and went 5.0 Innings giving up five runs on seven hits and six strikeouts. Gavin Duenez (Redlands, CA) then came in relief and threw 2.1 innings and gave way to Brett Edwards (Santa Monica, CA) who threw the final 0.2 innings who surrendered the two runs on three hits getting the loss.
Game 2 (W, 6-3)
Bulldog starter Nathan Buchan (Mercer Island, WA) gave the Bulldogs their first good pitching appearance of the series as he went 6.1 innings with only two earned runs. They then got their second and third good appearance from Duenez and Edwards who finished off the seventh through ninth innings with only one hit allowed.
For the first time in the series the first lead of the game went to Redlands as Preece, Mark Kirkland (Redlands, CA), and Umscheid each drove in runs during their four-run third inning.
Insurance runs came in the seventh and ninth innings courtesy of a Preece RBI-single that scored Rylan Morris (Fullerton, CA) and a Kaiya Saito (Bellevue, WA) sacrifice fly to right.
The two through five hitters produced seven hits, four RBI's, and three runs scored. It was a good time to do so as the rest of the lineup produced just one hit.
Buchan collects his sixth win on the season giving up three runs on seven hits, while striking out three. Edwards added his fourth save on the season.
Redlands has six days to prepare with no more midweek non-conference games as they start a weekend series with Caltech on March 28 at 3:00 p.m. in Pasadena.
