REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Baseball team (13-19, 5-13 SCIAC) returned to action after an off week for commencement and picked up a run-rule victory over the visiting Occidental College Tigers, 12-2, Friday afternoon at The Yard.
The Tigers got on the board first with a sacrifice fly to right in the first inning thanks to a double and a sacrifice bunt that put a runner at third. The Bulldogs wasted no time providing run support for starter Tyler Reiter (San Diego, CA) as they tied and took the lead in their opening at-bats as Gabriel Ceja (Long Beach, CA) and Sebastian Mejorado (Oceanside, CA) each got RBI's on bases loaded walks.
Reiter got a one-two-three second ahead of the bottom half of the inning where the Bulldogs plated four runs. Jared Anderson (Gilbert, AZ) picked up the first RBI on a single to center, which brought in Esteban Nakashima (Riverside, CA), who singled earlier. Luke De Vries (Irvine, CA) then scored making it 4-0 on a RBI-double down the left field line by Max Clark (Fontana, CA). The final two runs came on a wild pitch and an RBI-groundout from Patrick Perez (Ontario, CA).
The Bulldogs continued to pour it on in the third as they earned three more runs getting them within two of the run-rule. With a pair of runners in scoring position and one out Anderson singled home Omar Barraza (San Mateo, CA) and Jake Burgess (Riverside, CA) who each reached on a walk and a single to open the inning. Clark then got another RBI as he brought De Vries home on a sacrifice fly to center.
The 10th run of the game for Redlands came in the fourth as an error at second base allowed Perez to come in and score on a fielder's choice. Clark would make it a 10-run lead in the sixth on a solo home shot into right center for his seventh of the season.
The Tigers would keep the game alive with a run-scoring triple to avoid a run-rule loss in the top of the seventh. But in the bottom half of the frame Barraza would step in and turn on an inside fastball driving a walk-off solo home run to left center.
Redlands' offense drew six walks, had 11 hits, and only left four runners on base. Anderson and Clark each had three hits and three RBI's. The three hits for Clark ties a career-high, which he has set multiple times. At the bottom of the lineup Nakashima made his return after missing four weeks as he finished 2-for-2. Reiter started and got the complete game with only two runs allowed in seven innings as he moves to 6-1 on the season.
The Bulldogs will try and sweep the series with a road doubleheader at Occidental Saturday, April 29 with first pitch set for 11:00am.