The University of Redlands baseball team hosted No. 14 Kean University (NJ) on Friday in a non-conference battle on a sunny day at The Yard. Despite gaining an early advantage with a strong start, the Bulldogs battled through multiple lead-changes while knocking out 15 hits, but unfortunately fell in a 9-11 decision.
The Bulldogs got off to a hot start, as the home team put up a four-spot in the bottom of the first inning. After junior third basemen Brendan Gardiner (Mission Viejo, CA) roped a single to left field, senior second basemen Christopher Scalisi (Woodland Hills, CA) moved him over on a hit-by-pitch. During junior catcher Rainier Aguilar's (San Bernardino, CA) at-bat, both runners advanced on a nice double- steal move. Aguilar then sent a single to left, scoring Gardiner for the 1-0 lead. Junior designated hitter Joey Warner (Indio, CA) kept things rolling by blasting a sacrifice fly to deep center for another RBI. After senior center-fielder Christian Conci (San Mateo, CA) was walked, junior right-fielder Jordan Babbitt (Highland, CA) blasted a double to plate both Aguilar and Conci for the 4-0 Bulldog advantage.
Junior Felix Minjarez (Riverside, CA) took the mound for the Bulldogs and proceeded to shut down the Cougars in the first inning. However, Kean answered the Maroon and Gray's strong start with two runs in each of the second and third innings to tie it up at four apiece.
However, the tie didn't last long, as Babbitt singled to deep, right field to send Warner home from second, following a leadoff single and a heads-up play on a wild pitch.
But Kean replied with a two-run effort in the top of the fourth to take a slight 6-5 lead.
Nonetheless, Redlands came right back in the bottom of the inning, when Scalisi and Aguilar got on base to set up Warner's two-RBI-single for the home team's 7-6 lead.
The Maroon and Gray added a run in the fifth and the sixth to sit in front by a 9-6 advantage. In the fifth, Gardiner was credited with the RBI, while junior short stop Will Hall (Seattle, WA) laid down a successful sacrifice bunt to plate Conci, who scored from third in the sixth.
Senior hurler Michael Collins (Upland, CA) lifted Minjarez in the fourth inning and pitched lights out over the next four innings. He went three-up, three-down in the fifth, sixth, and seventh inning, only giving up one hit while striking out four.
As the Maroon and Gray held onto a 9-6 lead, the ninth inning proved to give Collins trouble, as he quickly secured the first out but then gave up two-straight singles. An error by the defense added another base-runner and a Cougar RBI.
Senior pitcher John White (Burbank, CA) entered the tough situation, but Kean tacked on four more runs with only one out. Junior pitcher Adam Stead (Rialto, CA) then entered the game with runners on first and second. Stead spun and fired a shot to Scalisi at second for a successful pick-off move to secure the second out. He then pitched for the easy ground-out to finish the frame.
Redlands faced a two-run deficit and the waning minutes of daylight in the bottom of the ninth. Gardiner singled to lead off the stanza, before Conci walked for two base-runners on with no outs. Unfortunately for Redlands, the Kean defense answered the call for a double play, to end any chance of a Bulldog comeback.
The Maroon and Gray (7-8, 3-3 SCIAC) returns to Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action on Friday, March 10, by traveling to Thousand Oaks to face the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen in a single game at 2:30 p.m.
