LOS ANGELES, Calif. - For the third time in as many years, and the 12th in program history, the Cal Lutheran baseball team has been crowned Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) champions.
In exact opposite conditions of when the baseball game began between Cal Lutheran at Occidental on Saturday under rainy skies in cold temperatures, the Kingsmen returned to Anderson Field on Monday in the sun and heat to down the Tigers 15-3 and clinch their third consecutive league title with their ninth straight win.
Overall, the Violet and Gold teamed up for 22 hits with Davey Casciola producing a 5-for-6 outing with three RBIs and two runs scored. Collin Crowl was 3-for-3 and both Kyle Sanchez and Max Price had three-hit games while Nick Cohan and Spencer DuBois each collected two. Nine different players scored and eight drove in at least one run. Sanchez paced the Kingsmen by hitting the plate a trio of times.
On Saturday, trailing 2-1 with Sanchez on second in the third inning the contest was halted due to weather conditions. A rejuvenated squad, knowing the game was a must win for an outright championship, came out fired up. CLU started the day by scoring two runs on two pitches. Nick Cohan stroked a double down the left field line on the first pitch he saw and came in to score on a Davey Casciola single on the next play, giving the visiting team a lead they would not relinquish.
In the fourth inning, CLU plated another pair on a two-run homerun to right field off the bat of Sanchez for a 5-3 advantage.
Occidental would push across its third and final run of the day in the fourth.
Things were scoreless on both sides until the seventh when the Kingsmen sent eight men to the plate and used a two-out rally for four runs on five hits. Price, Justin Caña and DuBois connected for back-to-back-to-back RBI hits with DuBois driving in a pair. The CLU catcher also stole a base in the inning as the frame ended with Cal Lutheran ahead 9-3.
Another two-out scoring frenzy occurred in the eight when pinch hitter Sinjin Todd doubled to left, scoring Cohan and Crowl who reached on a single and hit by pitch, respectively. Price followed with another single and Caña drove in Todd. Unable to push across the decisive tenth run to end the game early in the eighth, the Violet and Gold went back into the field in the ninth with a 12-3 cushion.
In the final frame, Sanchez and Ramsey Abushahla each singled and pinch hitter Gabe Gunter drew a walk to load the bases for Casciola who plated two more. The final run of the day came on a sacrifice fly from Anthony Schirtz that scored pinch runner Brett Green.
CLU turned its only double play of the game in the ninth when Mitchell Shields, Sanchez and Casciola teamed up before a ground ball to first base ended the game.
Marshall Pautsch worked 5.0 innings, scattering seven hits and striking out three while allowing three runs. He handed the ball over to Evan Peterson in the sixth and the middle reliever worked 2.0 innings, surrendering just one hit and striking out one. Landry Kiyabu came on in the eight and Shieldsclosed the door, each working an inning in the win.
Cal Lutheran (29-10, 20-7 SCIAC) has earned the No. 1 seed in the SCIAC Postseason Tournament, which will feature La Verne, Pomona-Pitzer and Redlands. While CLU has locked up the top spot and La Verne will enter as the fourth seed, the second and third seeds are yet to be determined until the conclusion of regular season action on Tuesday afternoon.
More information on the tournament, complete with a Tournament Central website, will become available later this week.
Box Score: CLU 15, OXY 3
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