ORANGE, Calif. — California Lutheran University baseball is your 2022 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Postseason Tournament Champion! The Kingsmen earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. 

The Kingsmen defeated three different SCIAC opponents on their way to taking the crown. The No. 4 team did not lose a game, defeating top-seeded Chapman 4-3 to open the tournament, then taking down No. 2 La Verne 7-5 on Saturday, and finished up with No. 3 Pomona-Pitzer 18-11 on Sunday afternoon.

The Sunday Gold's worked out for the Kingsmen as the bats were active all game long. Cal Lutheran combined for four homeruns and 15 hits. The Purple and Gold tallied six extra-base hits to rout the Sagehens. 

Jalen Parks led the way with two homeruns and a triple, totaling three RBI. Max Heverly and Zach Lafata added a 2 and 3-RBI home run, respectively. 

Heverly was big and offensively and tallied 5 RBI, Parks and Bullard were next with three, Lafata and Brendan Durfee both had two and Will Watson added one. FIX

Austin Carrillo was a perfect 5-5 at the plate to lead his team. Parks was next with three, Kyle Reuser and Heverly both had two while Lafata, Bullard and Durfee each added one. 

Max Kendall was on the mound and combined with the bullpen to keep the Sagehens in check. Kendall went 4.1 innings, allowing just four hits and one earned run. Bryan Tierney was next and had 1.1 innings with zero hits, but gave up an earned run off three walks.

The bullpen continued with John Frazier, Clay Rickerman and as they finished off the Sagehens. Frazier went 0.2 innings with Rickerman going 1.2 and sitting the Sagehen batters down 1-2-3 in the eighth. Watson come in for the ninth and finished off the Sagehens. 

The Sagehens took an early lead going up 4-1 after three innings, but that's when the Kingsmen bats unleashed their firepower. 

The Kingsmen scored six runs in the top of the fourth, thanks to the home runs from Heverly and Lafata. Cal Lutheran added two more in the fifth, a two-run lazer home run by Parks over the left field wall. 

After Pomona-Pitzer got one run back in the sixth, the Kingsmen continued where the left off. They put up four runs, looking to put the game out of reach at 13-5. 

The Sagehens had their answer and scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh. In the top of the eight, Parks sent the first pitch to the moon, hitting the center part of the centerfield wall. He got a triple and had the Kingsmen in business again. He exited as Ethan Doshi came in to run.  Watson pushed the lead back to five with a sacrifice fly. 

The rout was on as the Kingsmen scored four runs in the top of the ninth and took the championship. 

The NCAA Committee will decide the bracket, which will be announced Monday morning at 9 a.m. PST. The Kingsmen will wait and see where they go. 

Box Score: CLU 18, PP 11
CLU Instagram: @clusports
Sport IG: @kingsmen_baseball
CLU Twitter: @CLUSports
Sport Twitter: @CLUBaseball
CLU Facebook: @clusports
Hashtags: #clusports #ownthethrone #goregals #gokingsmen #theSCIAC #ncaad3

Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director