REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Baseball team scored 27 runs over the two games at The Yard Saturday afternoon to take the doubleheader 16-6 (7-Innings) and 11-6 winning the series with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

The series proved crucial for the Maroon and Grey as they seek a berth into the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tournament.  They have now won three of their last four and move to 14-10, 5-7 SCIAC, currently sitting in a tie for 5^th within the conference standings.

Game 1 (W, 16-6 | 7 Innings)

The Bulldogs did what the Stags did to them on Friday, scoring the first three runs of the game and holding a 5-1 advantage after three innings.  Jonah Advincula (Santa Clara, CA) started the first inning off with a walk and then caused havoc on the base paths stealing second and third before being brought in on a Mark Kirkland (Redlands, CA) double to left center.  After a walk to Matthew Brumbaugh (Chula Vista, CA) that put runners on the corners Esteban Nakashima (Riverside, CA) stepped in and singled to left plating the second run of the inning.    

Max Clark (Fontana, CA) then tacked on the third run of the game in the 2^nd inning with a solo shot to deep left that cleared the netting moving the score to 3-0. 

After a sacrifice fly for the Stags in the top of the third, which cut the lead to two, Redlands got the run back and more in their next at-bats.  Advincula reached after getting hit by a pitch and was again able to get over to third following another stolen base and a throwing error by the catcher.  Kirkland kept up his red-hot hitting with a rip into right field scoring one and that then led to a two-out triple to right center from first year Jake Burgess (Riverside, CA) that moved the score to 5-1.    

The Bulldogs' run got dowsed in the fourth when the Stags put up five runs to take their first lead of the game at 6-5. But after conceding the lead, Redlands quickly tied the game in the bottom half of the frame with Clark doubling to right center and coming in on an error by the first baseman deadlocking the game.  This run in the sixth was the first of an 11-0 stretch that covered three innings as they completed the run-rule victory.  The final four innings the bullpen for UR shut down the CMS bats holding the Stags scoreless the rest of the way.

Clark came up clutch with a two-out single to right field in the 5^th Inning, which brought in the eventual game-winning runs.  He scored both Nakashima and Burgess who reached prior on a pair of singles.  Then in the 6^th, Redlands tacked on another three runs coming on three hits, which opened the game up.  Advincula led off the inning with a solo shot to deep right center, Kirkland singled to right and advanced to second after a Brumbaugh walk.  Following a passed ball that allowed a run to come in Max Smyley (Sarasota, FL) came up two batters later and connected for a sacrifice fly to right that moved the score to 11-6.

But the Maroon and Grey weren't done putting the game out of reach in the 8^th Inning bringing across five runs on four hits.  With two outs and two runners on UR strung together a rally with Jared Anderson (Gilbert, AZ) drawing an RBI walk, Smyley scoring on a passed ball, Kirkland singling on the infield, Brumbaugh grabbing another walk and Nakashima plating the final run with a base hit into left.          

Redlands totaled 18 hits on the day, five of them being for extra bases and collected five walks. All but one player in the starting lineup reached base with a hit or a walk. Kirkland became the 23^rd player to record a five-hit game in program history as he went 5-for-6 with three RBIs and two runs scored.  Nakashima just missed adding himself to the list as he had a four-hit game (4-for-6). Burgess and Clark both had three hits.

Jakob Russell (Fontana, CA) came on in relief with four shutout innings giving up just two hits, while striking out six as he moves to 2-0 on the year. 

Game 2 (W, 11-6)

For the second time in two days, the Bulldogs found themselves trailing as CMS took a 6-0 lead after two and a half innings. This time though the Maroon and Grey rallied scoring 11 unanswered runs for the second consecutive game, all coming between the 3^rd and 9^th Innings.      

The scoring got started for UR by Advincula who singled home Nakashima in the third.  After a scoreless fourth the Bulldogs mounted their comeback in the 5^th Inning using four hits to score five runs.  Clark and Nakashima started the frame off in a big way connecting for back-to-back jacks that made it a three-run game.  Advincula and Kirkland then reached both getting hit by a pitch and then came around to score after a single from Anderson and a double from Burgess.          

With the game tied at 6-6 UR continued to swing the bats bringing across another two runs in the 6^th inning, thanks to a Kirkland opposite field single.  This put the Bulldogs on top 8-6 and they didn't look back.  Smyley would tack on insurance in the 7^th Inning unloading on a solo shot to deep left that made it a three-run game and in the 8^th, Kirkland would triple to right center followed by an Anderson single to right that plated another two runs sending Redlands to the sweep. 

Nakashima (3-for-4), Kirkland (3-for-4), and Anderson (3-for-5) all collected three-hit games. Nathan Buchan (Mercer Island, WA) was first in relief and got his first career win thanks to five shutout innings with three strikeouts. Omar Barraza (San Mateo, CA) picked up his first career save after closing out the final two frames without allowing a base runner. 

Redlands looks to carry this momentum into their non-conference series with Lewis & Clark next weekend, April 8-9.  They host the Pioneers for a single game on Friday (3:00pm) and will return to The Yard for a doubleheader on Saturday (11am/2:30pm).