The University of Redlands baseball team traveled to Anthem, AZ over the weekend and played against stiff competition from the Northwest Conference (NWC) over the course of three days. Despite losing in each of its four non-conference contests against the NWC foes, the Bulldogs garnered experience that will help the team over the course of the 2014 season.
Redlands fell to Pacific Lutheran University, 3-4, on Friday, before dropping Saturday's opening contest against George Fox University, 1-12, and Saturday's nightcap against Linfield College, 3-10. Closing out the weekend, the Maroon and Gray stumbled to Whitman College on Sunday, 5-10.
Freshman first baseman Kyle Wallau (San Mateo, CA) gave the Maroon and Gray the early lead against Pacific Lutheran when he registered an RBI groundout in the bottom of the second, scoring sophomore Mark Tumlinson (Anaheim, CA) on the play.
The Lutes pulled one back off of Bulldog starting pitcher, sophomore Michael Collins (Upland, CA), in the top of the fifth frame, but that was the only run Collins gave up in his solid performance on the mound, going five innings, dispersing eight hits and one run, while striking out three batters.
Pacific Lutheran scored one more in the seventh before the Bulldogs tied the game in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI from senior center-fielder Alex Scheiwe (Encinitas, CA). Redlands, however, surrendered two runs in the ninth inning, and despite scoring one run in the bottom half of the final frame, the Bulldogs could not push the tying run across the plate in the disappointing defeat.
Tumlinson scored a team-best two runs while tallying one hit on the day. Additionally, junior right-fielder Connor Hancock (Burbank, CA) recorded a team-high two hits and Wallau notched two RBI to lead the squad in the category.
In Saturday morning's contest against the Bruins, junior catcher Sean McMillan (Redwood City, CA) provided the only RBI of the game for the Bulldogs, and as a team, Redlands tallied six hits.
Against defending National Champion, Linfield, the U of R jumped on top early, with both Scheiwe and Hancock ripping RBI doubles in the opening frame to nab a 2-0 advantage. Two big innings were all the Wildcats needed, however, as they scored all 10 runs during two frames. Hancock registered the best day at the plate for the Maroon and Gray, going 2-for-4 with two RBI, while Scheiwe added two hits, two runs scored, and one RBI.
In the final game of the weekend against Whitman, McMillan provided the power at the plate for Redlands, blasting a two-run homerun over the right-centerfield fence and going 3-for-5 at the plate with three RBI and one run scored. Additionally, freshman left-fielder Christopher Scalisi (Woodland Hills, CA) and junior shortstop Jordan Dresner (Etiwanda, CA) each recorded a pair of hits and scored a run.
The Bulldogs (0-5) open up Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action on Friday in their home opener when they host the University of La Verne. First pitch for this conference game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at The Yard.