THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The final scheduled Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) double header pitted the top two teams in the league standings and a pair of American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) ranked squads inside of Ullman Stadium today. On George "Sparky" Anderson Field, No. 18 Cal Lutheran and No. 8 Occidental previewed the championship atmosphere that will ensue in the coming weeks with an extra inning battle that went to the Tigers, 4-3, after the Kingsmen downed the visiting team, 16-6, with ease in the opening game of the day.
Senior day for the nine graduating player, Ramsey Abushahla, Justin Caña, Davey Casciola, Chad Clark, Landry Kiyabu, Tyler Nevins, Evan Peterson, Max Price and Mitchell Shields,was a sweet and sour one as the Kingsmen used a 12-run third inning in game one to break things open and never looked back during the front end of a doubleheader, but an extra inning affair in game two against the Tigers turned sour with a late loss.
Defense shined early in the day as Trey Saito and Max Price teamed up to catch a runner stealing in the top of the first of the opening game of the day. The fourth inning ended on a 5-4-3 double play and a 6-4-3 double play represented the first two outs in the top of the eighth.
When Chad Clark stepped in the box for the first time of the day he wasted no time giving the Violet and Gold an advantage as he launched a first pitch homerun. An inning later, CLU pushed across another run on a Saito RBI that plated Jimmy Jauregui and in the third everyone aided the offense with a dozen runs, on seven hits and three Oxy errors as 16 men stepped up to the plate.
Casciola, C. Clark and Gabe Gunter all scored twice in the third frame. In addition to another homerun from C. Clark, a two-run shot, Casciola had a two-run double and Pricehad a two-RBI hit in the inning as well, while Jauregui collected two hits in the frame.
The Kingsmen were held at bay until the eighth when Sinjin Todd lifted a sacrifice fly and Weston Clark notched an RBI single for the final two CLU runs of the game.
In the top of the sixth, Occidental staged a comeback effort with six hits, aided by two CLU errors, for six runs, but that was as much as the Black and Orange would muster.
The second game of the day was much more competitive with too many phenomenal plays, from diving catches to perfect throws, on both sides to count and it was everything you would expect from two top tier teams.
Todd walked and W. Clark singled before Eddie Villegas was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Price who lifted a sac fly for the first run of the contest in the second inning.
Occidental batted around in the top of the fifth, earning three runs on four hits, including a two-RBI double by Jack Brancheau, which gave the Tigers a 3-1 advantage.
Cal Lutheran clawed back with two more in the bottom half, one on an RBI single by C. Clark and the other off of an RBI double by Abushahla to score Price and C. Clark, respectively.
The teams remained knotted for five more innings until an 11th inning error and back-to-back singles with two outs gave Oxy the edge once more. CLU was not able to generate any more offense and the score went final.
Overall today, CLU notched 19 hits with seven for extra bases. C. Clark collected 11 total bases, going 4-for-9 with a double and two homeruns for four RBIs and four runs scored. Additionally, six different players had two-hit days and 10 different men hit the plate at least once. Brad Fullerton swiped the only base of the day for Cal Lutheran.
On the hill, Evan Peterson (8-4) earned the win in game one after working 5.1 innings, striking out four and allowing five runs, just three earned. Kiyabu was tagged with the loss in game two after pitching 2.2 innings in relief, striking out one and not allowing an earned run. Nate Wehner struck out four in his 3.2 innings of action without surrendering a run.
CLU and Oxy are currently in a tug-of-war situation for the SCIAC title and the final four games will be a factor for both squads. A combination of CLU wins and Oxy losses will determine the league champion and SCIAC Postseason Tournament (May 6-8) host.
Cal Lutheran (24-11, 18-6 SCIAC) continues conference Round Robin play on Wednesday, April 27 at Caltech with first pitch set for 3:00 p.m. The Kingsmen will also play on Saturday at Redlands beginning at 3:00 p.m. and Sunday at home for two, against Pomona-Pitzer and La Verne at 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., respectively, to wrap up the regular season.
Box Score: CLU 16, OXY 6 (8 innings)
Box Score: OXY 4, CLU 3 (11 innings)
CLU Instagram: http://instagram.com/clusports#
CLU Twitter: https://twitter.com/clusports
CLU Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clusports
