THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – No. 23 Cal Lutheran baseball opened its next stretch of SCIAC play on Friday afternoon with a 6-2 loss to Occidental at George "Sparky" Anderson Field, as a late offensive spark wasn't enough to overcome an early deficit in the series opener.

Coming off a strong start to the season and a rise in the national rankings, Cal Lu (15-5, 3-1 SCIAC) was unable to carry that momentum into Friday's contest, finishing with five hits on the afternoon.

The game remained scoreless through the first three innings before Oxy broke through in the fourth. A stolen base and a two-out RBI single gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead, setting the tone for a game in which timely hitting made the difference.

Max McGrady got the start on the mound and kept the Kingsmen within striking distance early, working into the sixth inning while recording five strikeouts. Oxy created separation in the sixth, stringing together four runs on a series of singles and taking advantage of a Cal Lutheran error to extend the lead to 5-0.

The Tigers added another run in the seventh to make it 6-0 before the Kingsmen responded.

Jacob Blickenderfer put Cal Lu on the board with a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, and later in the inning, Jona Dawson drove in Wes Lynch with an RBI single to cut the deficit to 6-2. The late spark brought some life to the Kingsmen, but the rally would end there.

Lynch led Cal Lutheran with two hits, while Blickenderfer and Dawson accounted for the team's RBIs. Philip Jeong also added a hit as the Kingsmen were limited to just one extra-base hit outside of Blickenderfer's home run.

Out of the bullpen, Colten Hanson and Caleb Wilson combined to allow just one run over the final 3.1 innings, helping settle things down after the Tigers' big sixth inning.

The Kingsmen will look to bounce back tomorrow, March 21, as they travel to Los Angeles to complete the series against Oxy with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m.