The No. 19 University of Redlands baseball team defeated Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) rival No. 20 University of La Verne Friday, 6-2, in La Verne.

As he has done all season, senior pitcher/first baseman Nolan Nicholson (Fullerton, CA) proved daunting to opposing batters as the Bulldog starter gave up just one earned run in six innings of action. In addition, Nicholson struck out four while surrendering a mere two walks.

The Bulldogs started the game with a base hit by senior outfielder/catcher Kyle Rizzo (Redlands, CA) in the first inning, who eventually scored from third on a groundout to the shortstop by junior catcher Jefre Johnson (Canby, OR). La Verne answered with a run in the bottom of the inning and did so once more in the third following another Rizzo run from a Johnson RBI.

Senior outfielder Matt Goldstein (Lincoln, CA) hammered the go-ahead run home in the top of the fourth with a two-run blast over the leftfield wall, and sophomore first baseman Manny Cardeiro (San Diego, CA) and junior shortstop Zack Braband (Alameda, CA) each supplied homers as well to give the Maroon and Gray the offensive boost it needed to cruise past the Leopards.

Both Cardeiro and senior outfielder Cory Vane (Simi Valley, CA) had multi-hit outings while Rizzo supplied a multi-run performance, scoring each of the two times he reached base.

With the win, Nicholson moved to 4-0 on the season while sophomore pitcher Derek Johnson (Canby, OR) notched the save.

Redlands (7-3, 4-0 SCIAC) entertains the Leopards for a SCIAC doubleheader tomorrow afternoon. The first pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. at The Yard.