The University of Redlands baseball team took on Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) competitor, No. 19 Chapman University in a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at The Yard. Behind clutch base hits and impressive home runs, the Bulldogs captured an exciting, extra-inning, 8-7 win before downing the Panthers, 19-12, in game two for a memorable senior day.
The teams traded scores in the first inning, before Chapman jumped ahead by a few runs, putting the Bulldogs in a 1-5 hole by the middle of the fifth.
However, Redlands never waivered putting up a four-spot in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at five-apiece. After two consecutive walks, junior first baseman Mark Kirkland (Redlands, CA) laced a two-RBI single through the right side to chip away at the deficit. Senior third baseman Anthony Acosta (Simi Valley, CA) and senior right fielder Cal Bridges (Fremont, CA) also added base hits to knot the score at five.
But the Panthers took the lead right back with a two-run shot in the sixth.
Fast forward to the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded and two outs, Acosta came in clutch with a single to left and with speed on the basepaths, scored two to tie the game once again at 7-7, sending the game into extra innings.
Similarly, to the ninth, the Bulldogs faced two outs with two on and a runner in scoring position. This time first-year second baseman Jared Anderson (Gilbert, AZ) was up to bat and fought off a couple of pitches before driving a base hit through the left side for the walk-off RBI single and an 8-7 win.
Thirty minutes later the Bulldogs busted out the bats in game two for 19 runs on 20 hits for an impressive conference win against a ranked team.
The Panthers went three-up, three-down in the top of the first, to put the Maroon and Gray on offense quickly which they took full advantage of. Kirkland, junior catcher Matthew Brumbaugh (Chula Vista, CA), and junior shortstop Max Smyley (Sarasota, FL) combined for four RBI to jump ahead. Redlands also tacked on a run in the second on one hit for a 5-0 lead after two.
However, Chapman added three runs on two hits and two Bulldog errors to close the gap to 3-5 in the middle of the fourth. Nonetheless, the Bulldogs matched the crooked number in the bottom of that inning. Anderson, Kirkland, and Brumbaugh were responsible for those runs for an 8-3 Redlands advantage after four.
Unfortunately, the Panthers found their rhythm for nine runs on eight hits to overtake the lead, 12-8, forcing Redlands to work from behind for the first time in game two.
But this didn't stymie the Bulldog's determination as Redlands added five runs to go ahead, 13-12, in the bottom of that inning. After a leadoff walk, sophomore third baseman Max Clark (Etiwanda, CA) ripped a monster home run up the left-center netting. Junior center fielder Payton Walsh (Santa Ana, CA) repeated the effort with a solo shot over the right-center fence for an 11-12 score. Kirkland then laced an RBI double down the left-field line and subsequently scored on a wild pitch a couple of batters later for a 13-12 advantage after five.
Similar to the previous inning, Smyley led off with a base on balls which Clark followed with a home run to left-center for impressive consecutive at-bats. Kirkland also added another RBI-base hit for a 16-12 score.
The Bulldogs stayed patient at the plate, taking pitches that eventually led to two more runs being scored on a pair of bases-loaded walks, ratcheting up the score to 18-12 through seven.
Senior pitcher/right fielder Brennen Carr (Chino Hills, CA) showed off his strength with a solo shot to right field for the Bulldogs 19th and final run of the day in the eighth.
Bridges was money on the mound in the final three innings pitching multiple popouts and fanning the final Panther batter to secure the save and the 19-12 victory.
Redlands (4-7, 4-5 SCIAC) welcomes the University of La Verne to The Yard on Friday, May 14 for a conference game at 3 p.m.