ORANGE, Calif. – After dropping game one of the series Friday afternoon, the University of Redlands Baseball team (23-13, 12-8 SCIAC) took the sweep Saturday on the road run-ruling Chapman University in Game 1 11-1 before holding them to one run in Game 2, 6-1.
Game 1 (W, 11-1 | 7-Innings)
The Bulldogs scored all of their runs in three innings, including five across the first two.
Luke De Vries (Irvine, CA) led off the game with a walk and a stolen base. Following a walk issued to Rylan Morris (Fullerton, CA), Tyler Preece doubled home De Vries putting UR on top 1-0. The second run of the inning came on a sacrifice fly to right by Nate Miller (San Jose, CA).
In the next inning Gabriel Ceja (Long Beach, CA) singled through the right side and was at third with one out after a single by catcher Mason Chetcuti (Redwood ity, CA). De Vries then added his third RBI of the series with a single to center for a 3-0 advantage. Runs four and five of the game came on an RBI-single by Morris and a second sacrifice fly of the afternoon, this time coming off the bat of Preece.
Thanks to five shutout innings by Bulldog starter Erik Radder (San Diego, CA), the Bulldogs were up 5-0 heading into the sixth. That same inning Redlands put the game away with an additional six runs.
The bases were loaded with one out after Chetcuti walked, De Vries singled to left, and Morris had an infield single to the pitcher. With nowhere to put Preece, he got an RBI after getting hit by a pitch.
Following a Panther pitching change, Mark Kirkland (Redlands, CA) flied out to left for the seventh run of the game. Ian Umscheid (Beaumont, CA) then walked, which brought Miller to the plate with the bases loaded. Miller put the exclamation point on the inning hitting a grand slam to make it 11-0 putting the Bulldogs in run-rule position.
Radder allowed a lead off home run in the bottom of the sixth, but he got two ground outs and a flyout soon after to secure the complete game win, his fifth on the season.
De Vries and Ceja both had three-hit games. Morris added two hits and a walk. In the seven hole Miller had five RBI's and Radder threw seven innings on 99 pitches with five strikeouts and only six hits allowed.
Game 2 (W, 6-1)
De Vries singled on a bunt in the third inning to get the offense started once again. Miller came around from second base after an error allowed him to take an extra 90 feet to make it 1-0 Bulldogs.
Then in the fifth Miller doubled home Will Cell (Seattle, WA) before Jake Burgess (Riverside, CA) singled to center piushing the lead to 3-0.
Following a solo home run for Chapman in the bottom half of the fifth, Redlands responded in the next half inning with a two-run error that allowed Kaiya Saito (Bellevue, WA) and Kirkland to score.
The sixth and final run came off the bat of Miller who singled home Cell in the ninth.
Gavin Duenez (Redlands, CA) pitched a scoreless ninth after Nathan Buchan (Mercer Island, WA) moved to 9-0 on the season after throwing 8.0 Innings, giving up one run on just 86 pitches.
At the plate Miller remained on fire with a 3-for-4 mark. He added two RBI's and two runs scored. De Vries reached base safely three times with a hit and two walks.
The Bulldogs will have next weekend off before traveling to the University of La Verne for the first game of a three-game series to end the regular season. First pitch is on Friday, May 2 at 3:00 p.m.
