THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - After rain washed out a single Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) game on the road yesterday, the Cal Lutheran baseball team returned to action at Ullman Stadium with a split double header against Pomona-Pitzer and La Verne on Sunday. The Kingsmen routed the Sagehens 19-6 before a dramatic 6-5 come-from-behind win over the Leopards in 11 innings in the nightcap.
As rare of a feat as hitting for the cycle is, CLU nearly had two players accomplish that today. In game one Jimmy Jauregui was a double shy and in the afternoon Gabe Gunter completed one, going 4-for-6 with three RBIs and two runs to propel the Kingsmen to the comeback win.
In game one, senior third baseman Davey Casciola flashed the leather with a diving play in the first inning and traded his glove for a bat following a 1-2-3 top of the first for CLU by laying down a bunt single to spark the offense early. Guntertraded places on an RBI double to the left centerfield gap and Jaureguipoked a run-scoring single to right for a quick 2-0 advantage.
A second inning Pomona-Pitzer rally with back-to-back singles was silenced by a 1-5-3 double play from Trey Saito, Casciola and Jauregui despite a hit-and-run giving the lead runner a head start. The Sagehens still capitalized with a run in the frame on a Matt Omori single to cut the CLU lead to 2-1. A threat for more was halted as Duncan Skerrett attempted to stretch a single into more and was gunned down at second by Justin Caña and Chad Clark.
CLU added to its tally in the bottom of the third. With two outs, the sun played a factor on a Ramsey Abushahla triple to right before Gunter drove in his second of the day and Jauregui launched his first homerun for the Kingsmen pushing the score to 5-1.
Clark made a diving play up the middle for the second out in the top of the fourth and in the bottom of the frame, Cal Lutheran put the game out of reach with a six-run inning on four hits coupled with three PP errors as 10 men stepped up to the plate.
The Kingsmen added three more insurance runs in both the bottom of the fifth, on two CLU hits, another Pomona-Pitzer miscue and a pair of wild pitches, and in the bottom of the sixth tacked on five more. A leadoff walk from designated hitter Max Weinstein got things going and hits from Brad Fullerton, Eddie Villegas (double), Max Price (double), Jeff Rebello, Brett Green and Weston Clark followed with Fullerton, Rebello, Green and W. Clark all coming off the bench to contribute.
Jauregui was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored, Gunter, Price and Villegas were all 2-for-3 and Gunter drove in three with two runs while Price and Villegas scored three times apiece and drove in three total. Casciola also had two hits and two runs.
Saito (8-3) worked 6.0 innings, allowing just one run on six hits before handing the ball over. Tanner Nishioka drove a grand slam off Tyler Nevins just inside the right field foul pole to give PP something to cheer about, but Ryan Bill came in to close the door with the final out on a swinging strike out.
In the afternoon, La Verne started with three straight hits and a walk, plating two for a quick 2-0 advantage. Neither side would add any offense until Ben White plunked the right field foul pole for a solo homerun to lead off the top of the sixth, extending the lead to 3-0 and the Leopards added a fourth run in the seventh on a CLU error and a sacrifice fly.
Cal Lutheran threatened in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases on a pair of singles from Caña and Fullerton and a two-out walk by Casciola, which forced a pitching change, but a phenomenal diving catch in left field by Daniel McDonnell ended the inning.
Going into the eighth inning, CLU had 14 hits without a run before things stared to click. Villegassingled and Saito pinch ran, coming around to hit the plate with the first Kingsmen run of the game on a single by Casciola. An outfield error allowed C. Clark to reach and with two out Gunter drove a ball over the fence to knot things at 4-4.
Two innings later, La Verne responded with the go-ahead run on a bases loaded wild pitch, but one more time, Cal Lutheran gritted down. A leadoff triple from Gunter, on a hit that was misplayed, got the dugout up and into things. Jauregui drove in the tying run and was relieved by W. Clark who moved up to second on a sacrifice and to third on a groundball out, setting the stage for dramatics. Saito stroked the walk-off single and was instantly mobbed by teammates between first and second base.
Landry Kiyabu (2-2) was credited with the win after working just two thirds of an inning. Starting pitcher Evan Peterson went 6.1 innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits while striking out one. Nate Wehner came out of the bullpen to throw 4.0 innings, striking out four and scattering three hits and one run.
Gunter and Caña each had four of the 21 hits as Caña went 4-for-5. C. Clark chipped in with three hits and Abushahla, Jauregui and Price finished with two apiece.
With sights set on a fourth straight SCIAC title, the Violet and Gold inched closer with the wins, coupled with an upset of Occidental by Pomona-Pitzer yesterday. The Tigers closed out their season today with a 2-1 walk-off win against Whittier and an 11-1 victory over Caltech to finish SCIAC play 22-6.
Cal Lutheran (27-11, 21-6 SCIAC) concludes SCIAC play on Monday, May 2 with a single game at Redlands with first pitch at The Yard scheduled for 3:00 p.m. after the game was postponed from Saturday. A win would secure a share of the SCIAC crown in 2016.
Box Score: CLU 19, PP 6
Box Score: CLU 6, LV 5 (11 innings)
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