THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Entering a pivotal series against Pomona-Pitzer with just two weeks of Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action left, the No. 20 Cal Lutheran baseball team emerged victorious in game one, 13-2, against the Sagehens at Ullman Stadium on Friday afternoon.
The Kingsmen racked up 15 hits in the game and jumped out to an early lead in the first inning. Spencer DuBois singled through the left side to get things going and after a walk to Kyle Sanchez, Ramsey Abushahla stroked a two-RBI double to left center. Playing in his first game since Feb. 27, Davey Casciola promptly singled in his first at bat to score Abushahla and give CLU a 3-0 lead.??
The Violet and Gold produced another three-run inning in the third frame after Nick Cohan walked and stole second, and Collin Crowl singled up the middle to bring him home. With two outs and Crowl on first, Max Price turned on an inside pitch and sent it over the left field fence for a two-run homerun and a 6-0 lead. In the fourth inning, Abushahla added his second RBI double of the game, driving home Justin Caña to take a 7-0 lead.
The Sagehens struggled to solve CLU starting southpaw Scott Peters, who simply shut down Pomona-Pitzer at the plate and carried a no-hit bid into the fifth inning. A single from Sam Fox broke up the no-hitter, but Peters got the next batter to ground out into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.??
In the bottom of the fifth, the Kingsmen loaded the bases for none other than Abushahla, who came through with his third double of the game and three more RBIs to give him a total of six in the game. Sanchez also added an RBI hit in the inning and CLU took an 11-0 advantage.
The Sagehens finally got on the scoreboard with a two-RBI double in the top of the sixth, but Nico Filice added a two-RBI double of his own in the bottom half of the inning in response. In the seventh, Peters added two more strikeouts to his total and got the final batter to line out to centerfield to wrap up the 13-2 victory via mercy rule. ??
Abushahla led the way at the plate going 3-for-5 and drove in nearly half the team's runs with six. Caña, Price, DuBois, Casciola, and Crowl each had two hits in the game and all nine players reached base for the Kingsmen.
Peters went the distance for his second complete game this season, and improved his record to 5-1 with the win. He allowed just four hits and two earned runs while striking out six and lowered his season ERA to 2.72. ??
Lane Miles (5-3) gets the loss for Pomona-Pitzer after pitching 4 innings and allowing eight earned runs and ten hits.
The win brings CLU and Pomona-Pitzer into a tie for third place at 11-5 in the SCIAC standings. La Verne sits in first place at 12-3 and Occidental is in second with a 13-5 record. The Kingsmen have yet to play the Leopards and Tigers and will square off against them in their final two series.
Cal Lutheran (19-8, 11-5 SCIAC) will travel to Pomona-Pitzer tomorrow, Apr. 4 for a doubleheader beginning at 11:00 a.m.
Box Score: CLU 13, PP 2 (7)
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