REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Baseball team got their 2023 schedule underway Friday afternoon at The Yard edging Division II Central Washington University 12-11.
A great start for the Maroon and Grey who bolster a young roster. They earned 12 runs on 12 hits with four players having multi-hit games led by Esteban Nakashima (Riverside, CA) finishing 3-for-4 with a run scored, an RBI and a walk. Freshman Sean McCance (Irvine, CA) added a great debut going 2-for-5 scoring twice and driving in another. Jake Burgess (Riverside, CA) put together a 2-for-3 effort with two runs scored, an RBI and a walk. Sebastian Mejorado (Oceanside, CA) had a breakout start to his sophomore campaign also going 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three. Omar Barraza (San Mateo, CA) also had three RBI's on the afternoon, with a bases clearing double late in the game. He was 1-for-5 with a run scored as well.
Mejorado set a career-high with his three RBIs while Barraza tied his career-high from 2022.
The Bulldogs fell behind 2-0 early but tied things up following an RBI-double from Mejorado and a wild pitch that plated Burgess. That same at-bat Mejorado was also able to come in putting UR on top due to another wild pitch.
After the Wildcats tied the game at three in the top half of the third, Burgess drove home Max Clark (Fontana, CA) with an RBI-single.
Redlands went scoreless in the fourth and fifth, allowing five runs in those two frames along with the sixth. This moved the score to 8-4 in favor of the Wildcats, but it did not deter the Maroon and Grey who rallied with an eight-run bottom half of the sixth turning a four run deficit into a 12-8 lead.
During that big inning Nakashima and Clark each picked up RBI's on bases loaded walks. Barraza had the big bases clearing double to right center and the final three runs came courtesy of an RBI-single from McCance and a two-run double from Mejorado.
The Bulldogs were able to pull out the win despite allowing three runs across the final final three innings, one in the seventh and then two in the ninth as Patrick Perez (Ontario, CA) closed it out with his first save as a Bulldog.
Jack Brown (San Diego, CA) earned the win going 3.2 Innings, allowing just one earned run. Perez got the one-out save with a strikeout to leave runners stranded on first and third. Freshman southpaw Kethan Efron (Henderson, NV) earned the start and left with the no decision after going 4.0 Innings, giving up four runs on five hits, while striking out two.
Redlands opens up a three game series with Willamette University beginning tomorrow, Saturday, February 4 with a doubleheader. First pitches slated for 11:00am and 2:30pm.