The University of Redlands baseball team put together a complete performance on Friday afternoon, cruising past the Beavers of Caltech in seven innings at The Yard, 15-2. In the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) victory, the Bulldogs registered season-high marks in runs scored and RBI, while also recording season-best marks from the mound.
Junior pitcher Josh Makler (Portland, OR) took to the hill for the Maroon and Gray, and after sitting the Beaver batters down 1-2-3 in the first frame, he cruised through the rest of his performance, going four innings and allowing just one hit while striking out eight in the win.
At the plate in the bottom of the first, freshman left-fielder Christopher Scalisi (Woodland Hills, CA) got things going for the Bulldogs when he ripped a leadoff double off of the left-field fence. Later in the inning, both junior right-fielder Connor Hancock (Burbank, CA) and junior catcher Sean McMillan (Redwood City, CA) registered RBI doubles, helping to give Redlands the early 3-0 lead.
Scalisi notched an RBI triple in the second inning, while junior shortstop Jordan Dresner (Etiwanda, CA) did the same to score Scalisi a batter later. With the score at 5-0, senior center-fielder Alex Scheiwe (Encinitas, CA) provided a sacrifice fly to centerfield, scoring Dresner.
The Bulldogs then exploded for four more runs in the bottom of the third frame without tallying a hit. Redlands was able to take advantage of a couple of errors by the Beavers and ran the bases effectively to extend the advantage to 10-0.
While Caltech would pull a pair of runs back in the top of the sixth frame, the Bulldogs continued to tack on more runs throughout, eventually resulting in the comfortable 13-run SCIAC triumph.
Sophomore pitchers Kevin Hindes (Upland, CA) and Kevin Stevens (Highland, CA) came in to relieve Makler on the hill, and both pitched well, with Stevens recording a perfect seventh inning and fanning three-consecutive Caltech batters.
As a team, the Bulldogs' 15 runs were a season high, while the 11 RBI tallied also marked a new season-best for Redlands. U of R pitchers allowed a season-low two runs on the day, with only one being earned. Additionally, the three Bulldog hurlers combined to rack up an impressive 14 total strikeouts on the afternoon.
At the plate, Scalisi led the way with his 3-for-4 performance that included two RBI and two runs scored. Complementing his efforts were senior designated hitter Max Hardman (Encinitas, CA) who registered three hits and three runs scored, while McMillan notched two hits, two RBI, and one run scored.
After the win, Scalisi talked about the team's solid overall performance in a post-game interview.
Redlands (2-7, 2-2 SCIAC) returns to the diamond tomorrow when it travels to Caltech for a conference doubleheader against the Beavers. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. in Pasadena.
