THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - After a thrilling walk-off victory to open the series, the No. 7 Cal Lutheran baseball team traveled to Redlands on Saturday where they were swept in a doubleheader for the first time this season, falling 3-0 in game one and 9-8 in game two.
For the first time since May 15, 2013 the Kingsmen were shutout in a game after a strong pitching performance from Bulldogs right-hander Matthew Acosta. For the second straight game a Redlands freshman pitcher gave the CLU offense a hard time and in game one Acosta went 7.2 innings scattering eight hits and striking out three while allowing no runs.
Jeff Rebello gave the Kingsmen their first hit off the day in the third inning and Justin Caña added a hit in the inning but a double-play ball ended any chance of scoring.
Redlands broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning with an RBI single from Joey Warner while Connor Hancock homered in the sixth and had an RBI groundout in the seventh to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead.
Rebello, Caña and Collin Crowl all had two hits in the game, but despite out hitting Redlands 10-9, CLU could not come through with runners on base and stranded 12.
Trey Saito (5-2) picked up the loss after throwing six innings and allowing just three earned runs but also walked five and did not get any run support.
The Kingsmen got plenty of runs in game two but fell just one shy as the Bulldogs returned the favor with a walk-off in the bottom of the ninth inning.
CLU jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the second inning due in large part to three RBIs from Ramsey Abushahla who came up with an RBI single in the first inning and a two-run homerun in the second.
Redlands scored in four straight innings to take an 8-7 lead but Gabe Gunter came through for CLU with an RBI single in the eighth to tie the game. Heading into the bottom of the ninth, Tyler Shreve led off with a single and, after a sac bunt moved him to second, came around to win the game on a single from Mitch Samson.
Evan Peterson got the start for the Kingsmen and went 4.2 innings after allowing 11 hits and just two earned runs. Landry Kiyabu received the loss and fell to 2-2 on the year.
Caña, Abushahla, Gunter, Nick Cohan and Spencer DuBois all had two hits in the game and Caña blasted his first homerun of the season. Crowl went hitless in game two and had his hitting streak snapped at 22 games.
Cal Lutheran (16-6, 9-3 SCIAC) will look to get back in the win column with a non-conference game against MIT on Thursday, Mar. 26 at Ullman Stadium at 3:30 p.m.
Box Score: UR 3, CLU 0
Box Score: UR 9, CLU 8
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