The No. 15/20 University of Redlands baseball team hosted Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opponent, Occidental College, on a beautiful Friday afternoon at The Yard. The team muscled 15 hits, while senior pitcher Felix Minjarez (Riverside, CA) allowed only two hits in the shortened, 10-0 victory over the Tigers.
Prior to the start of the game, Redlands honored Gil and Joyce Lynch as major contributors to the new baseball scoreboard. In addition, various members of the 1964 and 1965 baseball teams joined them on the mound, before Gil threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
Despite allowing one hit and pitching out of the stretch in the first, Minjarez successfully escaped the inning with a strikeout.
The Maroon and Gray jumped on the board early with two hits in the bottom of that frame. Senior second baseman Will Hall (Seattle, WA) beat out a sharp infield single to lead off the inning. After Hall subsequently stole second, junior first baseman Brendan Moore (Murrieta, CA) laced an RBI-base hit to left for the Bulldogs' 1-0 lead.
Minjarez continued to deal, striking out four over the next three innings.
Senior right fielder Jordan Babbitt (Highland, CA) added to the score on a solo shot over the right-field fence to lead off the bottom of the fourth. Junior shortstop Aaron Singh (Anaheim, CA) then singled, stole second, and took third on the next sacrifice bunt. Singh came home on senior center fielder Kyle Kabeary's (Indio, CA) blooper to left center. Hall and senior third baseman Brendan Gardiner (Mission Viejo, CA) provided base hits to eventually plate Kabeary for a 4-0 Redlands advantage heading into the fifth inning.
This fired up Minjarez on the mound, as he recorded two more punch-outs in the top of the fifth.
Following two base knocks in the bottom of that frame, senior designated hitter Joey Warner (Indio, CA) dinged a double down the left-field line for an RBI. The Bulldogs tacked on another run on Kabeary's subsequent sacrifice fly for the 6-0 lead.
In the top of the sixth, Minjarez impressively recorded his fourth 1-2-3 inning to make efficient work of Occidental's offense. Despite giving up only his second hit of the evening in the seventh inning, Minjarez quickly bounced back to strike out the third out.
In the bottom of the seventh with runners on second and third, Kabeary knocked his third hit of the day, with this one cruising up the middle to plate Singh. Senior left fielder Nick Ono (Yorba Linda, CA) laced a single to right field that sent Babbitt home. Hall followed suit with an RBI-single to nearly the exact same spot for the 9-0 advantage. After Gardiner walked to load the bases, senior catcher Rainier Aguilar (San Bernardino, CA) smacked a walk-off, sacrifice fly to end the game in the seventh with a solid 10-0 victory.
The Bulldogs impressed on both sides of the ball, as the offense knocked 15 hits to back up Minjarez's two-hitter effort.
Redlands (26-9, 14-5 SCIAC) heads to Occidental College, on Saturday, April 14, for a doubleheader in Eagle Rock. Game times are slated for 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
