The fourth-seeded University of Redlands baseball team continued play in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Postseason Tournament on Sunday morning by facing off against the top-seeded Occidental College Tigers in an elimination game for the second time in tournament play. After defeating the Tigers on Saturday morning for their first win of the tournament, the Bulldogs were unable to repeat their early-round success and suffered a 5-6 defeat, thus ending their season.
The Bulldogs got off to a rocky start, as they allowed four runs in the opening four frames to put themselves in an early hole.
Redlands began to fire back on the offensive front in the bottom of the fifth inning, as senior right-fielder Christian Gurrola (Torrance, CA) put the ball in play to reach base on a fielder's choice, pushing sophomore shortstop Will Hall (Seattle, WA) across the dish to trim the deficit to 1-4.
Junior center-fielder Christian Conci (San Mateo, CA) continued to swing a mighty stick in the bottom of the sixth inning, as he notched a two-RBI-single through the left side, plating Hall and sophomore pinch runner Kyle Kabeary (Indio, CA). Gurrola came up two batters later and poked a single to center field to score senior left-fielder Mitch Samson (Orangevale, CA), bringing the score to 4-6.
After junior reliever John White (Burbank, CA) blanked Occidental for the final three frames, Redlands added another run in the eighth inning on an error by the Tigers' shortstop, plating Conci to bring the score within one run at 5-6.
Unfortunately, Redlands was unable to plate any further runs in the final inning, resulting in a 5-6 defeat and ending the Bulldogs' season.
The Bulldogs struggled in crucial situations by leaving 12 runners on base.
Junior second baseman Christopher Scalisi (Woodland Hills, CA) and Conci each had three hits, while Gurrola and Samson notched a pair of base knocks.
Senior starter John Keane (Clayton, CA) was tagged with the loss after lasting just four innings and allowing four runs off six hits. Sophomore reliever Noah Jones (San Bernardino, CA) provided a solid inning of relief, while White took over the remainder of the pitching duties and tossed four innings and striking out six batters.
The Bulldogs conclude their season with an overall record of 25-16 and a conference mark of 16-11.