The University of Redlands baseball team recorded two victories in a three-game series against the Leopards of the University of La Verne during the second weekend of Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action.
In the series' opener on Friday, the Bulldogs notched a close 2-1 victory in which rain allowed the teams to play only six innings. Senior ace Derek Johnson (Canby, OR) picked up his third win on the young season by going the distance in the shortened game. He allowed only two hits and one run while fanning eight batters.
Redlands pushed across its two runs in the top half of the third inning as senior left fielder Brandon Owashi (San Diego, CA) collected two RBI on his single to right field. Freshman center fielder Alex Scheiwe (Encinitas, CA) and junior second baseman Cameron Lowe (Olympia, WA) crossed home plate for the Bulldogs. Lowe registered two steals in the ball game as well.
Behind sophomore pitchers Kyle Hart (Poway, CA) and Adam Byrd (Bullhead City, AZ), Redlands nabbed a late 3-2 victory in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader.
After a scoreless four innings, La Verne put up the first runs of the game in the top of the fifth, recording two on two hits.
Hart denied any additional scoring opportunities by the Leopards, pitching a solid six innings for his first Bulldog victory of the season. He allowed five hits and two runs, and kept La Verne's hitters off-balance by striking out nine in all.
Despite leading off three innings with a runner on base, Redlands struggled to push any runs across until the seventh. Junior third baseman Jason Henning (Redlands, CA) started off the inning with a four-pitch walk, reaching safely for the third time this game. Lowe stepped to the plate and smoked a lining double into the left-center gap, bringing Henning home for Redlands' first run of the game.
Rookie Max Hardman (Encinitas, CA) pinch-hit to continue the Bulldog rally and notched his first collegiate RBI with a single to right field.
Owashi finished out the inning by bringing across the third score with a deep single into right center.
Lefty reliever Byrd came out of the Bulldogs' pen to shut the door on the Leopards. He posted his first save of 2011, throwing three shutout innings, which included a dramatic ninth-inning final strikeout with a runner in scoring position.
The Bulldogs' loss against the Leopards came in the final game of the series when La Verne scored early on a three-run shot and never looked back.
Redlands rallied back with two runs in the second but struggled to overcome the Leopards' lead while leaving 11 on base. The Bulldogs settled for the 4-8 loss but nabbed the series victory by taking two of three against La Verne.
The Bulldogs (5-3, 4-2 SCIAC) kick off a three-game series against Cal Lutheran University, beginning with Friday's single game in Thousand Oaks at 2:30 p.m. Redlands returns home to the Yard for Saturday's doubleheader against the Kingsmen with the first pitch coming at 11 a.m.