The fourth-seeded University of Redlands baseball team laced up its cleats for its third game of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Final Four in the last two days when it took on the third-seeded Pomona-Pitzer Colleges Sagehens on Sunday morning in Claremont. The Bulldogs displayed late-inning dominance by pushing across three runs over the final three frames while holding the Sagehens scoreless with only two hits en route to a 9-7 Redlands victory.
After the Sagehens snagged an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, junior left-fielder Mitch Samson (Orangevale, CA) knotted up the score in the following frame by squaring up a line-drive single to left field to plate senior shortstop Jordan Dresner (Etiwanda, CA), who led off the inning with a single.
Freshman starter Felix Minjarez (Riverside, CA) stymied the Sagehens while maintaining the tied score and striking out one batter.
The Bulldogs made it 2-1 in the top of the third inning, as junior third baseman Mark Tumlinson (Anaheim, CA) launched a sacrifice fly into center field, scoring sophomore center-fielder Christian Conci (San Mateo, CA).
The teams continued to jockey for the lead, as Pomona-Pitzer blasted back-to-back round-trippers to aid in creating a 6-2 advantage through the fifth.
With its back against the wall and facing its second deficit of the game, the Maroon and Gray worked its way out of a corner by tossing up a crooked number of four runs in the top of the sixth. After senior catcher Sean McMillan (Redwood City, CA) and Tumlinson each reached base on consecutive singles, Dresner followed with a single of his own to trim the deficit. Senior right-fielder Connor Hancock (Burbank, CA) and junior first baseman Ryan Franklin (Manhattan Beach, CA) promptly followed by putting the ball in play to reach on fielder's choices, scoring McMillan and Dresner, respectively. Conci capped off the big inning by barreling up a double to score Franklin and tie the game at six apiece.
Watch Conci's two-bagger into the gap.
Despite the offensive surge, the Bulldogs surrendered two more runs in the bottom half of the sixth inning to lose the lead for a brief moment at 6-7.
In the top of the seventh stanza, Redlands stepped up once again, as Tumlinson came around to score after Hancock grounded into a double play, tying the game at seven all.
The Bulldogs remained poised an inning later, as freshman pinch-runner Kyle Kabeary (Indio, CA) crossed home on a passed ball and Tumlinson blasted a two-out single to score Conci for a 9-7 lead.
Senior hurler Michael Collins (Upland, CA), who entered the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, was dominant by allowing only two base-runners and striking out three to close out the win. He successfully fanned the final batter of the game to preserve the Bulldogs' important victory.
Overall, Tumlinson went 3-for-4 at the dish with two RBI and two runs scored, while Dresner notched three hits, an RBI, and two runs scored.
The Bulldogs (26-12, 19-8 SCIAC) round out the regular season on Tuesday, April 28, at 3 p.m. by facing the eighth-seeded Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in the last game of the SCIAC Final Four.