The University of Redlands baseball team faced non-conference competitor Whitman College (WA) in the night game on day two of the Cactus Classic.
With Redlands serving as the visiting team, sophomore Andrew Rueter (San Diego, CA) took the mound in the bottom of the first and made quick work of the Blues batters, recording all three outs himself, with two strikeouts and a grounder that he took to first himself.
Redlands struck first, putting up a crooked number in the top of the second. Sophomore first baseman Mark Kirkland (Redlands, CA) and sophomore designated hitter Chris Hardin (Highland, CA) sent back-to-back singles through the right side and both advanced a base on a subsequent wild pitch. Sophomore catcher Sammy Diaz (Palm Desert, CA) continued to wreak havoc on the right fielder with an RBI-single to plate Kirkland. A passed ball and another RBI-single to right off the bat of first-year center fielder Payton Walsh (Santa Ana, CA) gave the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead.
Rueter subsequently recorded a 1, 2, 3 inning that included two more K's to put the Maroon and Gray back on offense quickly.
First-year second baseman Jonah Advincula (Santa Clara, CA) led off the third with a triple to deep center field and was sent home on a senior third baseman Anthony Acosta (Simi Valley, CA) sacrifice fly.
Despite Whitman adding a run in the bottom of the third, Redlands came back with a vengeance, plating three more to go up 7-1 after three and a half innings. After adding a run, with runners on second and third, Acosta sent a shot through the left side for an RBI. Kirkland followed that up with a screamer down the right-field line for two bags and another RBI.
However, Whitman narrowed the gap in the bottom of that inning, plating three runs for a 4-7 score. Diaz ended the inning with a pitch-out and throw-down to sophomore shortstop Max Smyley (Sarasota, FL) to catch the Blues runner stealing for the third out.
Whitman also tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to pull within one, 6-7.
Fast-forward to the seventh inning, Hardin led off with a monster home run to right-center to extend Redlands' lead to 8-6. But once again, the Blues matched the run in the bottom of the inning to keep things close. As Whitman threatened to score again with the bases loaded, junior right fielder Cal Bridges (Fremont, CA) took the mound attempting to pitch out of a tough situation. Bridges forced a popout and struck out the last batter of the inning to keep the Maroon and Gray ahead.
The Bulldogs added an insurance run in the top of the eighth on another Acosta single.
Bridges recorded the first out in the bottom of the eighth by way of strikeout and although he gave up a single, Diaz threw down to short once again to catch the runner stealing for out number two. Bridges continued to dominate in the ninth with a first-out strikeout. Kirkland subsequently made a highlight-reel play, reaching over the tarp to record the second out deep into foul territory. The final batter lifted a routine flyball to left to solidify a nice, 9-7, Bulldog victory.
Redlands (2-1) makes a quick turnaround with an 8 a.m. PST game against Linfield College (OR) on Sunday, February 9.