The University of Redlands baseball team heads to Chapman University on Friday, May 5, for the opening game of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Postseason Tournament. The Bulldogs snagged the No. 3-seed in the tournament with a conference record of 16-8. Cal Lutheran University (18-6) captured the regular-season title and the No. 1 spot, while Chapman (16-8) gained the No. 2-seed with the tiebreaker over the Bulldogs. Finally, the University of La Verne (15-9) completes the tournament field as the No. 4-seed.
The Maroon and Gray looks forward to competing in its fourth SCIAC Postseason Tournament in five years. This is Head Coach Aaron Holley's third-straight trip to the event.
After earning Head Coach Scott Laverty's 400th career win on April 28, the Panthers enter their third tournament overall and make their second-consecutive berth. As Redlands' previous head coach, Laverty also guided the Bulldogs to their inaugural appearance in 2013.
Redlands looks to bounce back against Chapman after previously dropping all three conference games to the Panthers. The first two games came as tough, one-run losses during the first SCIAC series of the 2017 season. Junior right fielder Kyle Kabeary (Indio, CA) had quite a day against the Panthers by going 3-for-4 with a homerun, three RBI, and three runs scored.
Junior pitcher Felix Minjarez (Riverside, CA) also had a strong outing with eight strikeouts in seven innings of work. Overall, he has served as the Bulldogs' ace with 84.0 innings pitched and an ERA of 2.04 so far this season.
Senior reliever John White (Burbank, CA) made his presence known in the second game by striking out five of the six batters he faced.
In game three at Chapman, sophomore catcher Brendan Moore (Murrieta, CA) went yard en route to a 2-for-4 showing for an RBI and a run scored.
Overall, Rainier Aguilar leads the Bulldog offense with a batting average of .427 off of 124 at-bats. He also owns a team-high 36 RBI.
Chapman's Anthony DeNiro has developed into an offensive threat late in the season by earning a .414 average to lead the team, with the majority of his at-bats coming in April. But Tyler Cook closely follows at .409 after accumulating 154 at-bats. As a team, the Panthers have blasted 33 home runs this season.
On the mound, Chapman's Matt Mogollon and Joey Harmon have amassed over 55 innings each. Harmon's ERA of 3.09 highlights the nine Panther pitchers with at least 18 innings apiece.
There will be no charge for admission at Chapman's home field in Hart Park on Friday.
Following Friday's action, the remainder of the tournament takes place at Cal Lutheran on Saturday, May 6, and Sunday, May 7. Due to the double-elimination format, all teams advance to the second site on Saturday.
Cal Lutheran will be charging $10 for general admission and $5 for 55+ and military with ID. SCIAC students and personnel, and children under 12 will be admitted for free.
Live Stats and streaming will be available for free on the SCIAC portal or through the host schools' homepage.
Friday, May 5, at higher seed
Game 1: No. 4 La Verne at No. 1 Cal Lutheran @ 3 p.m.
Game 2: No. 3 Redlands at No. 2 Chapman @ 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 6, at Cal Lutheran (Thousand Oaks)
Game 3: loser Game 1 v. loser Game 2 @ 8:30 a.m.
Game 4: winner Game 1 v. winner Game 2 @ 11:30 a.m.
Game 5: winner Game 3 v. loser Game 4 @ 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 7, at Cal Lutheran (Thousand Oaks)
Game 6: Championship game—winner Game 4 v. winner Game 5 @ 11 a.m.
Game 7: If necessary, 30 minutes after completion of Game 6