The University of Redlands baseball team hosted two non-conference contests on Wednesday afternoon at The Yard, falling in both games to talented east-coast teams. In the first game of the day, the Bulldogs stumbled to Drew University (NJ), 3-6, while in the nightcap, the Maroon and Gray lost to No. 4 Kean University (NJ), 1-9.
In the opener, the U of R jumped on top in the first inning when junior catcher Sean McMillan (Redwood City, CA) registered an RBI groundout, scoring freshman second baseman Christopher Scalisi (Woodland Hills, CA) on the play.
Drew (1-3) responded with two runs in the second and two runs in the third, however, to take a 4-1 advantage early on. The Rangers then tacked on a couple more insurance runs in the sixth to extend the advantage to 6-1.
Redlands did not go down without a fight though, and in the eighth inning, sophomore center-fielder Mitch Samson (Orangevale, CA) got things going with a single to center field. A couple of batters later, junior shortstop Christian Gurrola (Torrance, CA) laced a double down the right-field line, scoring Samson. Not long after, junior right-fielder Connor Hancock (Burbank, CA) notched an RBI groundout to bring Redlands to within three runs.
That would be all the Bulldogs could muster, however, resulting in the tough three-run defeat.
As a team, the U of R totaled seven hits from seven different individuals.
On the mound, sophomore pitcher Kevin Hindes (Upland, CA) and Kevin Stevens (Highland, CA) provided the Maroon and Gray with three solid innings of relief, not surrendering a run between the two while allowing just three combined hits.
In the second game of the day, the fourth-ranked Cougars (10-2) jumped on top early and never looked back in the eight-run triumph.
The Bulldogs scored their one run in the bottom half of the eighth frame when Scalisi ripped an RBI single to center field, scoring senior right-fielder Max Hardman (Encinitas, CA) on the play.
Scalisi proved to be the bright spot of the contest for Redlands, going 3-for-4 at the plate with the team's lone RBI. Senior center-fielder Alex Scheiwe (Encinitas, CA) also performed well at the dish for the Maroon and Gray, going 2-for-2 after coming into the game in the latter stages.
Redlands (6-13, 6-6 SCIAC) returns to action on Friday when it hosts Whittier College (11-5, 9-0 SCIAC) in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) contest. First pitch at The Yard is set for 3 p.m.
