Baseball rolls past Occidental in non-conference matchup

Image credit: Sydney Nakagawa
Image credit: Sydney Nakagawa

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The University of Redlands Baseball team took on Occidental College in a non-conference road game Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs got out to an early 5-0 lead and never looked back as they rolled past the Tigers 14-2, improving to 10-7, while winning their fourth in a row.

The Maroon and Grey got an RBI single to center from Mark Kirkland (Redlands, CA) and a two-run single up the middle from Sebastian Mejorado (Oceanside, CA) in the first inning that put UR on top quickly. Kirkland then added another RBI to his total with a base hit to left in the top of the second moving the score to 4-0 and Matthew Brumbaugh (Chula Vista, CA) tacked on the fifth run with a sacrifice fly to left.

After a Tiger home run in the bottom half of the second, Brumbaugh delivered once again this time with a single to left that plated Jared Anderson (Gilbert, AZ) for a 6-1 lead in the fourth. Anderson, Luke De Vries (Irvine, CA), and Payton Walsh (Santa Ana, CA) drove home the seventh, eighth, and ninth runs in the fifth and sixth innings.

Brumbaugh added to his big day with a two-run home run in the seventh. Joining him with three plus RBIs was Kirkland who singled for a third time as he drove home his third run of the game, which extended the Bulldog lead to double digits at 12-1. Omar Barraza (San Mateo, CA) and Joe Godoy (Commerce, CA) got into the action with RBIs in the eighth as the Bulldogs added insurance late. 

Redlands finished with 18 hits, six walks, three extra-base hits, three stolen bases, and had ten players reach base safely with nine of them doing so via hits. Anderson (3-for-5) and Kirkland (3-for-7) each had three-hit days and a trio of Bulldogs drove in multiple runs: Kirkland (three RBIs), Brumbaugh (four RBIs), and Mejorado (two RBIs).

As good of a day as it was at the plate, the pitching was just as strong. James Boone (Sammamish, WA)Cameron Kundig (Redlands, CA), and Ryan Rhoades (San Diego, CA) each threw three innings and only allowed four hits, while walking two and combining for eleven strikeouts, six of which came from Rhoades.

Redlands has another non-conference game against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) next Wednesday, March 23 at "The Yard" with first pitch set for 3:00 p.m.