The University of Redlands baseball team completed the series sweep of Chapman University on Saturday afternoon, winning the opener, 16-11, and game two, 5-0. Registering season-best marks in game one and a dominant pitching performance in the nightcap, the Bulldogs jumped into third place in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) standings thanks to the three-game sweep of the Panthers.
The Maroon and Gray began game one with a big first inning, scoring three runs with two outs. Sophomore right-fielder Nathaniel Acosta (Chino Hills, CA) provided the timely hit, ripping a three-RBI double to right field.
Chapman tallied one in both the first and second, but the Bulldog bats caught fire in the middle innings, as the U of R scored 12 total runs during the fourth, fifth and sixth frames.
Acosta led off the fourth inning with a long homerun, his team-leading sixth on the year. Sophomore designated hitter Connor Hancock (Burbank, CA) then walked and senior first baseman Eliot Smith (West Linn, OR) laced an RBI double to centerfield, scoring Hancock from first. Two batters later, Smith crossed the plate via a sacrifice-fly from freshman third baseman Mark Tumlinson (Topeka, KS).
The Bulldogs would tack on three more in the fifth, with Smith and junior left-fielder Max Hardman (Encinitas, CA) both recording RBI in the frame.
Up 9-2, the U of R broke the game open with six runs on seven hits in the sixth inning. Everyone got in on the act, and Smith capped off his phenomenal performance by smashing a three-run homerun, making it a 15-2 ballgame. For the game, he went 3-for-5 at the plate with five RBI and two runs scored.
The Panthers would score a few runs in the later innings to bring the score to within four, but Redlands tacked on one more in the ninth inning for good measure, securing the important series-clinching victory.
In the opener, Acosta went 2-for-5 at the dish with five RBI, while junior center-fielder Alex Scheiwe (Encinitas, CA) tallied a team-high four hits in the win. Additionally, sophomore shortstop Jordan Dresner (Etiwanda, CA) recorded a three-hit performance, while every Bulldog who had an at-bat in the contest recorded at least one hit.
As a team, the Maroon and Gray notched season-highs in runs (16), hits (20), RBI (14) and homeruns (2).
In the victory, senior pitcher Kyle Hart (Burbank, CA) picked up the win while going 6.1 innings and allowing just four earned runs.
The nightcap was a vastly different game for both teams and was a much lower-scoring affair. Freshman pitcher John Keane (Clayton, CA) was firing on all cylinders from the mound for the U of R and went the distance, scattering five hits over the nine innings and allowing no runs, marking his first-ever complete-game shutout while donning a Bulldog uniform.
Redlands did not need many runs, but got more than enough in the top of the second inning by scoring three. The Bulldogs then tacked on two more in the fifth frame and cruised to the comfortable five-run triumph.
The U of R only notched four hits in game two, but they were four very timely hits. Smith went 2-for-3 at the dish with one RBI while Hancock and Scheiwe each provided one hit apiece.
With every game playing an important role in the final regular-season SCIAC standings, the Bulldogs (15-10, 11-7 SCIAC) travel to Occidental College on Friday, April 5 for a conference bout with the Tigers. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.