THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - On the second day of the Third Annual Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Postseason Baseball Tournament at George "Sparky" Anderson Field inside of Ullman Stadium today Cal Lutheran won twice to play another day while La Verne remained undefeated going into the final day of the tournament on Sunday with an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Playoffs on the line.
An elimination day started with Cal Lutheran shutting out Pomona-Pitzer 10-0. In the fourth game of the tournament, Redlands took a 1-0 lead in the first, but La Verne responded with three in the second and won by a 5-2 margin. The final game of the day pitted CLU against Redlands with the Kingsmen earning a 9-3 victory to stay alive after a long day at the ballpark.
Knowing that it was a win-or-go-home scenario for game three of the weekend, designated visitor Cal Lutheran jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead as the first four men in the lineup reached on three hits and a walk. Justin Caña set the tone with a single up the middle and promptly stole second before coming in to score on a Spencer DuBois hit. Kyle Sanchez followed suit, knocking in another run and after a Ramsey Abushahla walk, and the first out of the game, Sinjin Todd lined a double down the left field line, plating a pair.
Trey Saito (7-4) struck out the first Sagehens batter of the day and forced fly balls for the final two outs with runners at first and second to cap off a 30-minute first inning.
The second inning was more of the same for the Violet and Gold when leadoff man Jeff Rebello drew a walk from the nine-hole to get the top of the order back in the box. Cañaput down a perfectly placed push bunt and used his speed to beat out the throw. DuBois executed a sacrifice bunt, moving each runner up 90 feet. Kyle Sanchez doubled to centerfield for an RBI and Abushahla lifted a sac fly for two more runs to push the advantage to 6-0.
Pomona-Pitzer came back with a single from Kevin Brice, but the Hens remained scoreless and an uneventful third on both sides followed.
Déjà vu saw Rebello walk to start things off for the Kingsmen in the top of the fourth. Three batters later the bases were loaded with one out for Abushahla who knocked in two with a single up the middle. Davey Casciola added to the tally with an RBI single to the left centerfield gap and the CLU lead grew to 9-0.
Saito struck out the first two batters of the frame and Sanchez flashed the leather to end the bottom of the fourth by snagging a line drive for the third out. Pomona-Pitzer got a single in the inning from Mark Okuma, though the outfielder was stranded.
The next time to the plate, PP made some noise with a leadoff hit from Sam Fox and another single up the middle from Simon Rosenbaum. The Sagehens threatened when Kenny Rabin squared up a ball, but a leaping Rebello snagged the liner to send the game into the sixth.
Neither team produced any runs until Cal Lutheran extended its lead to double digits with a run in the eighth via three hits and a run on a Collin Crowl hit that scored Sanchez.
Rosenbaum nearly put the Sagehens on the board with a pair in the bottom of the seventh when he launched a long fly ball to center, but Caña grabbed it at the wall for the second out of the inning.
Overall in game three, CLU collected 12 hits with Abushahla going 3-for-3 with a walk, three RBIs and a run. Caña, Casciola and Sanchez had two hits apiece and Caña, DuBois and Todd each hit the plate twice. Saito worked 6.0 innings, scattering eight hits and striking out five before handing the ball to Evan Peterson for 2.0 and Tyler Nevins for the final frame to keep the Hens hitless as each struck out one.
Pomona-Pitzer (28-13) saw its season come to a close after Cameron Yen (5-2) was knocked from the hill after just 2.0 innings and six runs all earned. Okuma went 3-for-4 and Tanner Nishioka was 2-for-3. Defensively, PP turned a pair of double plays in the loss.
The fourth game of the weekend, second of the day, featured Redlands and La Verne. Redlands, the designated visitor, jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead when Christopher Scalisi started the game with a single and came in to score on a hit from Jordan Drener.
La Verne reversed its deficit in the bottom of the second when three runs came across the plate on a combination of two hits and an error as well as a botched double play opportunity. Redlands had a chance turn two and end the inning, but Nolan Henley, who singled, was safe at second after the fielder missed the bag. LV then loaded the bases with a walk, setting up Andrew Douglas for the two-RBI single through the right side of the field. A stolen base coupled with a throwing error allowed the third Leopards run to scurry home by way of Tyler Watkins.
The LV right fielder turned around and flashed the leather to get the crowd loud when he made a phenomenal diving catch at the bullpen mound for the second out of the top of the third. Neither team was able to string anything together until the bottom of the sixth inning.
Redlands starting pitcher Felix Minjarez settled down and scattered just three hits through the next 3.2 innings, including a 1-2-3 top of the third. A double from Woody Reyes with two down in the sixth knocked the freshman from the hill as he handed the ball to Noah Jones. After a Watkins walk to put runners on first and third, LV gambled and earned a run as Reyes stole home, but not without some throwing exchanges between the Bulldogs infielders. Jones forced a ground ball to second base to end the inning.
UR came back fired up as Mitch Samson and Joey Warner stroked back-to-back singles, the second was nearly a web gem from LV centerfielder Henley. Minjarez struck out the next two batters, but a wild pitch and a single by Scalisi cut the deficit in half to 4-2 as Samson scored. Nick Byrd took the ball and sat down the final batter of the inning with a swinging strikeout.
The Leopards got one run back in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Jared Hovsepian that plated Ben White who reached with a leadoff single for the final crooked number of the game.
La Verne (23-17) looked to Douglas for a three-hit day and Reyes added two as each swiped a base. Javi Iniguez (7-3) struck out three over 6.2 innings in the win and Byrd tossed the final 2.1, scattering two hits without allowing a run.
For Redlands, Dressner, Scalisi and Warner had two hits apiece. Minjar struck out five over 5.2.
In the third game of the day, fifth of the tournament, Redlands won the coin toss to determine the home and visiting teams, but the assigned visiting Kingsmen used first at-bats to their advantage. Caña reached on an error and scored on an opposite field single by Abushahla. Casciola added another RBI hit to his line today and the Violet and Gold took a fast 2-0 lead after the first half inning.
UR cut that deficit in half to 2-1 in the bottom of the second when Connor Hancock was hit by a pitch and came in to score on an RBI single from Christian Conci.
In the top of the fourth, however, CLU tacked on another run on a sac fly to right field off the bat of Caña that plated Crowl after the designated hitter reached when he was hit by a pitch. The Kingsmen came back an inning later to post a four-spot on four runs with the aid of a Redlands miscue. DuBois beat out an infield hit to lead things off and Sanchez stroked a single to left. Abushahla remained hot with an RBI single and Casciola did the same. The Bulldogs opted to put Crowl on intentionally and Rebello made the Maroon and Gray pay with a sac fly that ultimately plated two on an errant throw to the plate in an attempt to throw Abushahla out at the dish.
In the bottom of the sixth another Redlands run scurried across. Sean McMillan opened the frame with a double and after a pitching change that put the ball in the hands of Mitchel Shields, Hancock drove him in with an infield hit to the left side. Shields went on to get the next two batters via strikeouts, one swinging and the other looking.
Not going away that easily, Redlands rallied in the bottom of the seventh with two outs. McMillan drove in another run and with two men on, Shields handed the ball to Evan Peterson who needed just one pitch to end the threat and inning with a fly ball to Caña.
In the essence of having more insurance, the Kingsmen came back to reclaim the run they surrendered and more with another pair as Abushahla drove in DuBois and Sanchez who were hit by a pitch and singled, respectively.
Another inning and a half of scoreless baseball ensued and the game went final with CLU advancing to the final day while the Redlands (28-14) season came to a close.
UR was paced by a 3-for-5 (two doubles) game from McMillan while Hancock was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Matthew Acosta (8-5) was tagged with the loss after CLU scored seven runs on five hits during his 5.0 innings of work.
Cal Lutheran (31-11) looked to Abushahla for another solid offensive performance that included a 3-for-5 day with four RBIs and a run. Sanchez also notched a trio of hits with a team-high three runs in the win. Abushahla finished the day 6-for-8 with seven RBIs and two runs scored for an .875 slugging percentage. Defensively, CLU outfielders were busy and Caña paced all players with eight putouts in center. On the mound, Pautsch (7-1) scattered five hits with a strikeout over 5.1 innings. Both Shields and Peterson went 1.1 and Landry Kiyabu closed the door in the ninth with a pair of strikeouts.
The tournament will conclude on Sunday with the first game scheduled for 11:00 a.m.
SCIAC Post Season Tournament Schedule:
Game 1: La Verne def. Cal Lutheran 12-3
Game 2: Redlands def. Pomona-Pitzer 10-4
Game 3: Cal Lutheran def. Pomona-Pitzer 10-0
Game 4: La Verne def. Redlands 5-2
Game 5: Cal Lutheran def. Redlands 9-3
Game 6: La Verne vs. Cal Lutheran - Sunday, May 3 - 11:00 a.m.
Game 7: Winner G6 vs. Loser G6 - Sunday, May 3 - 2:30 p.m. (if necessary)
Tournament Central: 2015 SCIAC Postseason Baseball Tournament
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