The University of Redlands baseball team traveled to Orange on Friday to face the Chapman University Panthers in game one of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Postseason Tournament. After the teams traded scores through eight solid innings, the score remained knotted at 4-all, leading to an exciting final stanza. The Bulldogs took advantage of a passed ball to score the eventual game-winning run before stepping up defensively to thwart the Panthers' final offensive push.

Senior left fielder Mitch Samson (Orangevale, CA) roped a base hit through the left side to lead off the first inning. After seeing many pitches, senior center fielder Christian Conci (San Mateo, CA) stayed patient at the plate and eventually drew the walk before senior third basemen Christopher Scalisi (Woodland Hills, CA) laid down a successful sacrifice bunt to move the runners over. Junior catcher Rainier Aguilar (San Bernardino, CA) answered the call by sending a single to left center for the first RBI of the game.

However, the Panthers equalized the score in the bottom of the first on a single and a wild pitch. With speed in right field, junior Kyle Kabeary (Indio, CA) made an excellent catch to limit the damage while junior pitcher Felix Minjarez (Riverside, CA) fanned the next batters for the third out.

With solid defense and pitching, neither team mustered a run in the second stanza. But, with two outs and a runner on, Chapman's Tyler Blodgett knocked a two-run home run for the Panthers' 3-1 lead in the third.

In the top of the fourth with a runner on, Conci attempted to initiate the Bulldogs' comeback by sending a fly ball deep to the left-field warning track, just a few feet short of a home run. But the attempt fell short for now.

After the Panthers started the bottom of the fourth with a single, Aguilar fired a bullet to Singh to trap the lead-off runner in a pickle for the first out. After a double and a stolen base, a Panther player hit a sharp ground ball to Scalisi, who handled it well and fired it back to Aguilar for the out at home to keep the home team off the board.

The Maroon and Gray offense got to work in the top of the sixth by scoring three runs on four hits. Singh led off with a double to left field. Again, with his quickness and agility, Kabeary found his way on base on a bunt-single. Following the subsequent hit-by-pitch, Samson roped a single to third base for the first run of the inning. Conci and Scalisi knocked a sacrifice fly and a single, respectively, for the next two RBI and the Bulldogs' 4-3 advantage.

Minjarez blew past the first two batters in the bottom of the sixth while Conci put away the third out in center field. But Chapman scored the equalizer on two hits to knot the score at 4-4, as the teams headed into the eighth inning.

Although the Bulldogs had two outs under their belt, they successfully loaded the bases in the top of the frame but struggled to pull the trigger for a run.

With one out in the bottom of the eighth, Minjarez had to face two batters out of the stretch but got the last two outs by way of a fly-out and strikeout.

With one out, junior designated hitter Brendan Gardiner (Mission Viejo, CA) laced a single through the right side. Singh subsequently laid down the successful sacrifice bunt to move him over before Gardiner advanced to third on a passed ball. With two outs, junior second basemen Will Hall (Seattle, WA) struck out on a passed ball, but Gardiner snuck in from third while Hall was safe at first to put the Maroon and Gray back on top at 5-4.

With Minjarez still going strong, he headed to the mound to pitch the ninth. He gave up a single but then sat the next two batters. With the final out needing to be recorded and a Panther runner on second, Chapman sent a single to short, center field. Conci fielded it perfectly and threw a strike to Aguilar, who tagged the would-be tying run for a close play at the plate for the third out and the 5-4 Bulldog victory.

Minjarez improved to 12-1 on the season after throwing a complete-game win with seven strikeouts.

The Bulldogs (26-14, 16-8 SCIAC) head to Cal Lutheran University on Saturday, May 6, for an 11:30 a.m. game against the host Kingsmen.