The No. 24 University of Redlands baseball team fell, 4-5, to Whittier College in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) game Friday afternoon in Whittier.
With the loss, the Bulldogs are now tied with Cal Lutheran University for second in the conference standings. The Kingsmen upended No. 9 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in their home finale earlier in the afternoon.
Two errors and a wild pitch helped Redlands plate two in the top of the first, and the Maroon and Gray would hop out to a 4-0 edge after junior leftfielder Brandon Owashi (San Diego, CA) and senior catcher Jefre Johnson (Canby, OR) scored as a result of four Bulldog hits in the third.
Tyler Bogart doubled down the leftfield line in the home half of the third to take one back for the Poets before Ian Bablewski and Pete Mitchell accounted for one RBI each in the bottom of the fourth to pull Whittier within one.
The Poets tied the score in the sixth right after Head Coach Scott Laverty replaced senior pitcher Michael Lessig (Fountain Hills, AZ) in favor of freshman pitcher Kyle Hart (Burbank, CA).
A tumultuous eighth eventually cost Redlands a chance at the victory as Whittier scored one run on no hits and three errors. The Poets retired the Bulldogs in order in the top of the ninth to secure the upset.
Both squads held even hit totals at eight apiece.
Lessig drew the start on the bump for Redlands, lasting five innings while yielding four runs on six hits. He also struck out a game-high five batters. Hart was the tough-luck loser out of the bullpen, scattering two hits while allowing one run over three innings of work. The lone run that Hart surrendered was unearned.
Keith Hoefel pitched masterfully in relief for the Poets and gained the win, moving to 2-5 on the season. Hoefel threw three perfect frames, taking care of all nine batters that he faced.
Owashi and graduate student designated hitter Brett Sandford (Santa Barbara, CA) both boasted multi-hit performances to energize the Redlands attack. Owashi scored two runs, while Sandford drove in one.
Jacob Storrer went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI to lead Whittier at the plate.
Redlands (27-9, 19-8 SCIAC) looks to stop its five-game skid tomorrow afternoon when it faces Caltech in its SCIAC finale. The first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at The Yard in Redlands.