PASADENA, Calif. – Caltech Baseball hosted the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens for a doubleheader Saturday morning, claiming victory in a pitchers' duel in the morning contest. Rookie Brendan Flaherty pitched a solid 7-inning start, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out five batters. Senior outfielder Will Dembski covered the mound for a lights-out final two innings, retiring every batter he faced to seal the win for the Beavers.

Caltech struck first in the opening matchup thanks to sophomore Jack Warren, whose double to left field drove home classmate Jack Fishel to make it a 1-0 first inning for the Beavers. Then in the second inning, first-year Mark Hu scored after singling and advancing on a passed ball, a hit by classmate Sayuj Choudhari, and a sacrifice fly by sophomore Edward Speer.

The Beavers kept gradually extending their lead while holding the Sagehens scoreless, with Fishel scoring in the bottom of the third on Hu's deep RBI single after getting hit by a pitch and then stealing second base. While Caltech was quiet in the fourth, Warren opened the bottom of the fifth with a bang, belting a leadoff home run over the right field wall. Finally, Choudhari knocked a ground-rule double beyond the left field pole in the sixth, eventually strolling home on Warren's bases-loaded walk. 

The Sagehens' lone run came from a one-out homer by Tanner DeGrazia in the top of the seventh, but the Beavers retired the next two batters to set the table for Dembski's close. That homer was the only extra-base hit Flaherty allowed in his tremendous effort; apart from the two singles allowed, Flaherty only allowed two other Pomona-Pitzer batters to reach base, and the only two Sagehens to make it past second base were immediately forced out at third on a pair of unassisted fielder's choice plays by junior Leo Jenkins.

Dembski, Warren and Hu each tallied a pair of hits in the second game, with Dembski and Jenkins each contributing two RBI. Dembski, Hu, Speer and sophomore Cameron McNamee represented the Beavers' four run in the rubber game of the three-game series against Pomona-Pitzer. 

Head Coach Kevin Whitehead and the Beavers host California Lutheran University next, this Friday, Apr. 7 at 3 p.m. on Caltech's North Field. Watch live on the SCIAC Network.