CLAREMONT, Calif. — Blake Wink collected four hits and
Troy Anderson homered for the second game in a row, but Cal Lutheran baseball came up just short of erasing a five-run deficit, falling to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 10-9 in its SCIAC Tournament elimination game on Saturday afternoon.
After winning back-to-back SCIAC Tournaments as the No. 4 seed in 2022 and 2023, the Kingsmen (28-14) won't three-peat as champs in 2024 after two one-run defeats to La Verne and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in this year's tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Anderson's three-run home run got the Kingsmen on the board in the first inning, and after scraping across runs in the third and fourth, the Kingsmen found themselves up 5-2. The Athenas (29-12) turned the tide in the bottom of the fourth with six runs on four hits, including a homer, to knock
John Frazier (L) out of the game.
The Athenas added two more runs to their lead in the seventh inning to make it a 10-5 game heading into the eighth inning. Trailing by five with just six outs left and the season on the line,
Ethan Dungo walked while
Alec Garcia and
Blake Wink were both hit by pitches to load the bases with no outs, giving the Kingsmen life. Then,
Kai Caranto singled past the diving Athena shortstop to drive in Dungo and Garcia. With runners on first and second,
Lucas Danielewicz kept it going with a double off the left-center field wall to drive in another run to make it 10-8.
Ryan Farr capped off the big inning with an RBI groundout to make it a one run game as the Kingsmen willed momentum back to their side.
Kyle Johnson posted a scoreless bottom of the eighth before the Kingsmen's last chance to tie or take the lead. Garcia reached via error with one out then Wink smashed his fourth hit of the contest down the left field line for a double to put runners on second and third with one out. With two chances to drive runners home, the Kingsmen couldn't find that last clutch hit to stay alive, as a groundout and strikeout ended the season in Claremont.
THE NUMBERS
- Frazier (9-3): 3.1 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 3 BB
- Wink: 4-5, 2 2B, 3 R
- Anderson: 1-5, HR, R, 3 RBI
- Farr: 3-4, 2B, R, RBI, BB
UP NEXT
The Kingsmen say goodbye to their incredible graduates
Gordon Richardson and
Blake Wink, but have an exciting combination of emerging contributors and returning upperclassmen that will no doubt make Cal Lutheran baseball a force to be reckoned with in 2025.
