TUCSON, Ariz. - Fresh off its No. 7 ranking by the America Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), Cal Lutheran received two outstanding pitching performances from Tyler Hedba and Jake Petersen and won its first two games of the Tucson Tournament Thursday. In game one against Augsburg (Minn.), Hebda pitched 7.2 innings and allowed just one run as CLU went on to win 5-2. In the second game, Petersen picked up his second-straight complete-game victory as he allowed just four hits and racked up nine strikeouts in a 7-1 win over Spalding (Ky). In Petersen's last 18 innings, he has allowed just six hits while striking out 19 and has not surrendered a single walk.
In game one Cal Lutheran capitalized on three Augsburg errors and scored unearned runs in the second and fourth inning and took a 2-0 lead. The Kingsmen scratched across another run in the fifth inning when Chris Whitmer led off the inning with a single then later stole second before scoring on an RBI single from Nicho DellaValle.
Hebda was able to keep the Augsburg bats at bay most of the morning, not allowing a single Eagle runner past second base until the seventh inning. Augsburg got lead off singles in the fifth and six innings but Hebda induced double-play ground balls in both to escape any damage.
Cal Lutheran added some insurance runs in the top of the eighth after Ramsey Abushahla cleared a double over the center fielder's head and plated DellaValle. Abushahla would later make his away around to third and score on a sacrifice fly from Kyle Sanchez, putting CLU up 5-0.
Hebda (3-1) would get two outs in the bottom of the eighth before allowing and run and giving way to Aaron Roth.
Augsburg would bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth but Roth closed out the game by getting a fly out while picking up his fifth save of the season.
Justin Cana, Abushahla and DellaValle all had two hits for the Kingsmen in the victory.
The Kingsmen suffered some bad luck in the bottom of the first inning of game two when leftfielder Nick Cohan lost the ball in the sun and Spalding leadoff hitter Kyle Whitlock was able to race around to third. After Petersen got the next two outs, Drew Beckman singled up the middle to give Spalding a 1-0 lead.
It was all Petersen after that. The senior would go on to retire on the next nine Spalding batters including five straight strikeouts at one point.
Karma was on the Kingsmen's side in the top of the fourth when Cana lifted a fly ball and Spalding had its left fielder lose the ball in the sun, allowing Spencer DuBois and Craig Jacobson to score.
CLU would tack on runs in the sixth and seventh innings thanks to run scoring singles from Jacobson and Petersen.
Atherton Kniseley gave CLU a 5-1 advantage in the top of the eighth when he stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher and then was awarded home after the centerfielder's ensuing throw sailed out of play.
Abushahla broke the game open in the top of the ninth when a two-run single that scored DellaValle and Petersen.
In the bottom of the ninth, Petersen (5-1), who had allowed just one hit since the first inning, gave up a double before getting a lineout and a ground out to Sanchez for his fifth win of the season.
Cana and Cohan led CLU with three hits apiece while Jacobson and Petersen each had two.
The Kingsmen will be back in action on March 21, when they take on Wisconsin-La Crosse at 8:30 a.m.
Game 1 Box Score: CLU 5 AC 2
Game 2 Box Score: CLU 7 SU 1
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