REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands baseball team (10-11) found themselves trailing 6-0 in the bottom of the fourth before scoring 14 unanswered runs to secure a 14-9 non-conference victory over Willamette University Sunday afternoon at The Yard.
The first of the comeback runs came on a 3-2 pitch to Anthony Thomas (Moreno Valley, CA) who hammered it to left center, scoring Tanner Gerosa (Huntington Beach, CA) in the fourth inning.
Later in that same inning Luke Hanson (Escondido, CA) lined a ball to dead center. The center fielder attempted a diving catch but came up short, allowing the ball to roll all the way to the wall and Hanson to come all the way around for an inside the park home run with Karlsen Drake (San Diego, CA) and Sean McCance (Irvine, CA) scoring to cut the deficit to one, 6-5.
In the fifth Thomas tied the game at six with a single to center that allowed Nate Miller (San Jose, CA) to cross home plate. Then in the next inning, the Bulldogs got six runs with a lot of small ball.
McCance doubled to start things off before Hanson put down a bunt single. Due to a throwing error by the pitcher who attempted to throw out Hanson, McCance was able to score. Ian Umscheid (Beaumont, CA) then came up clutch on a 2-2 pitch driving the ball over the right fielder's head, which allowed Hanson to score making it 8-6.
Gerosa kept the line moving, singling home Umscheid after Jesse Bullard (Riverside, CA) reached on a single and Miller walked. The final three runs came on a bases loaded walk drawn by Thomas, an Amani Wilson (Seaside, CA) single, and a double play that made it 12-6.
In the seventh the offensive run for the Bulldogs ended with a Bullard RBI double and a Thomas RBI single, which gave Thomas five RBI's and three hits.
The Bearcats did pull three runs back in the top of the eighth, but Aziz Bishop (Baltimore, MD) shut it down in the ninth on only six pitches.
Gerosa had four hits, while Hanson and Thomas added three each and Bullard, Miller, Wilson, and McCance recorded two.
On the mound Tanner Currier (Brawley, CA) and Bishop each had scoreless appearances with Currier getting his second win on the season. He went two innings with two hits allowed and two strikeouts.
Redlands travels to Azusa Pacific University for a single game with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at 3:00 p.m. this Friday, March 20.
