THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Postponed from Monday because of weather, the Cal Lutheran and Webster (Mo.) baseball teams met on George "Sparky" Anderson Field this afternoon with the host Kingsmen defeating the Gorloks 7-5 in a comeback beneath bright blue skies on a gorgeous afternoon.
It was a pitcher's duel through two with lots of fly balls. CLU starter Ryan Bill retired the first six batters he faced and forced a beautiful 6-4-3 double play between Austin Kay, Chad Clark and Weston Clark to end the top of the third having faced just one man over the minimum. A hit batter to start the top of the fourth proved costly as the Gorloks went on to score twice on a double to the gap and a single to left field for a 2-0 lead.
After Gabe Gunter notched the first CLU hit of the day with a line drive back at the pitcher in the bottom of the fifth Bill picked off a runner at first to end the top of the sixth.
Webster added two more runs in the top of the seventh after seven men stepped up to the plate. A solo homerun by Jeff Kammer and a walk knocked Bill from the hill and WU used an RBI single from Mike Wick to take a 4-0 lead.
The Kingsmen bats woke up in the bottom of the sixth. A leadoff homerun from Davey Casciola was followed by a Ramsey Abushahla single that was coupled with an error, allowing the senior outfielder to dive safely into third. Gunter lifted a two-run homerun to pull the Violet and Gold within one run at 4-3. In the bottom of the eighth the Kingsmen sent eight batters to the box and the first five reached with four scoring on back-to-back two-RBI doubles from Abushahla and W. Clark to take a lead.
Although the Gorloks added another run in the top of the ninth, CLU fended off a comeback with senior closer Landry Kiyabu striking out a pair, including the final batter, to earn his second save of the season.
Bill was successful in his first collegiate start, going 6.1 innings, striking out one. Evan Peterson and Nate Wehner worked two thirds of and an inning, respectively, with Wehner (2-2) notching one strikeout during a 1-2-3 eighth inning to earn the win.
Ranked No. 5 in the preseason American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), Webster had started the season .500 before dropping to 5-6 after today's game. Trey Tiigart was tagged with the loss. Kammer went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs and Wick and Kyle Uhrich both had two-hit games as well.
Overall, CLU collected eight hits with a pair coming from both Abushahla and Gunter who each had two RBIs apiece as well. Abushahla and Casciola each scored twice in the win.
Cal Lutheran (8-4) travels to Redlands on Friday, March 11 for a single game to open a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) series with the Bulldogs. First pitch is set for 2:30 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 7, WU 5
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