PASADENA, Calif. (Feb. 22, 2020) – In yet another singular display of resiliency, Caltech baseball recovered from a series deficit to claim its first win of the season in storybook dramatic fashion with a walk-off SCIAC victory over Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Saturday afternoon.

The day's ending was the stuff of Hollywood lore, as Caltech had dropped the first two games of the series by a combined 23-3 scoreline and trailed by one as rain which had threatened all day finally began to come down in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Beavers could not get anything going that frame, but locked down the top of the ninth to give themselves one final opportunity.

Sophomore Ryan Ruscansky (Annandale, N.J. / North Hunterdon) keyed the rally with an infield single and following a strikeout soon advanced to third on a big double by freshman Darren Rhodes (Waco, Texas / Midway), prompting a pitching change. The new pitcher immediately recorded a punchout to take the Beavers down to their final out, which sophomore Matthew Szedlock (Westminster, Md. / Gerstell Acad.) showed he valued as his hustle down the line on a chopper to third base forced a tough throw which was bobbled by the first baseman, allowing Ruscansky to score and tie the game. Senior Cortland Perry (New York, N.Y. / The Dalton School) then showed incredible composure to draw a walk and load the bases, putting the pressure squarely on the closer's shoulders with junior Mitchell Watson (Windsor, Colo. / Windsor) settling into the batter's box. Noting the Sagehen pitcher's tenuous control on the mound, the slugging first baseman – who had recorded a whopping 74:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his first two seasons – astutely kept the bat on his shoulder and watched four straight pitches miss the plate just low and outside for the tense walk-off walk.

The finish was eerily familiar, as Ruscansky had reached base as the leadoff hitter and scored on another Rhodes double back in the second inning also to tie the game following a game-opening error allowing Pomona-Pitzer to record its first run. In another of baseball's often amusing quirks, Szedlock reached base via walk that frame as well; Perry was the only other Beaver to record a hit or walk on the day, while rookie Steven Yee (Leewood, Kan. / Blue Valley) struck out seven batters over his seven innings, allowing just the one earned run on six hits and two walks.

Highlights at the plate from the previous two games of the series included a Watson solo shot – his second round-tripper of the season – earlier in the day and sophomore Dawson Beutler (Omaha, Neb. / Millard West) recording a pair of hits in addition to a sacrifice fly that brought Watson home in the Friday game. On the mound, Ruscansky did not allow an earned run over six innings of the series opener, while Beutler stretched out to throw five innings (a mark which the busy two-way star reached only twice last year), limiting the Sagehens to just two runs.

Head Coach Kevin Whitehead and the Beavers will welcome Kalamazoo College for a three-game series this coming weekend on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 28-29.

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