Baseball Swept by Redlands

Hartmann collects eight hits and six RBI in series

Download photo

In three games against Redlands Paul Hartmann went 8-for-13 with two home runs, six RBI and five runs scored.

Photo: Kevin Baxter

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The California Lutheran University baseball team was swept by Redlands in a three game series over two days. On Friday the Kingsmen fell at Redlands 8-5 and returned home for a double header on Saturday where Redlands came away with an 11-3 and 13-12 win in game one and two respectively.

CLU fell behind in the first game after Redlands catcher Jefre Johnson belted a two-run home run to left center field in the fourth inning. The Bulldogs added five more runs in the sixth inning on five hits and an error and four more in the seventh to extend their lead to 11-0.

The Kingsmen picked up all three of their runs in the ninth inning with two coming on a home run by Vinny Lopez. Anthony Schmitt finished the game in relief for CLU and didn’t allow a run in 2.1 innings while striking out three. Paul Hartmann went 1-for-3 in the contest with a double.

Byron Minnich started for CLU and got the loss while Mike McCarthy, Redlands’ starting pitcher, picked up the win.

In game two the Kingsmen took a 1-0 lead on an RBI single by David Iden scoring Hector Sanchez in the third inning. They tacked on another run in the fourth on an RBI double by Travis Dadigian.

Redlands evened the score at two in the top of the fifth and Hartmann smacked a three-run home run to deep left center field to give the lead back to the Kingsmen in the bottom half of the inning.

The Bulldogs came back with a solo home run from Matt Goldstein and a grand slam by Brian Schumaker to take a 9-5 advantage in the top of the sixth.

CLU answered with three runs in the sixth to cut its deficit to one. It was able to tie the game at nine when Lopez scored on a ground out by Dadigian in the seventh.

Hartmann put CLU out in front again in the eighth with a long double to center field that scored Iden from first base. Hartmann then scored on an overthrow at first base to extend the lead to 11-9.

In the ninth, Redlands took the lead back once again on a three-run triple by Kyle Rizzo to deep center field.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Hartmann launched his second home run of the game to tie the score at 12.

The Kingsmen made a couple of fielding errors in the tenth to extend the inning and Robbie Selden came in with the bases loaded and walked Matt Hughes to give Redlands the 13-12 lead. In their half of the inning, the Kingsmen managed to get runners on first and third with one out but were unable to plate a game-tying run.

Nolan Nicholson came on in relief to earn his ninth win of the season in two innings for Redlands.

In Friday’s 8-5 loss the Kingsmen tallied all eight runs in the top of the eighth inning but would not overcome the eight run deficit.

Hartmann led CLU with a 3-for-5 performance at the plate with an RBI and a run scored. Trevor Davidson picked up a team-high with two RBI. Alex Massari and Chad Heschong each added a pair of hits.

Selden got the start for CLU and tossed five innings and was tagged with the loss after he surrendered eight runs (four earned runs). The bullpen pitched the final three innings and didn’t allow a run with an inning of work from Peter Schmitt, Chris Batelli and Steven Omlor.

Billy Lavelle led Redlands going 5-for-5 with two RBI.

Cal Lutheran (10-16-1, 4-7 SCIAC) will host CSU East Bay for a three-game series next weekend. The opening game will be held on Friday at 3 p.m. while Saturday’s and Sunday’s contests will begin at 1 p.m. and Noon respectively.

©