PASADENA, Calif. — The Caltech baseball team faced off against the No. 13 Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges over the weekend in a three-game series, with the Beavers hosting one game on North Field on Thursday and the eastward foe hosting the latter two games on Alumni Field in Claremont on Friday.

The Beavers saw their strongest offensive showing of the weekend in Game 2 on Friday morning, with the squad putting up runs across three different innings.

Pomona-Pitzer scored the first run of the game in the second inning, though the Beavers tied it up in the fourth inning as sophomore third baseman Mark Hu (San Jose, Calif. / The Harker School) connected on a single to center field, scoring sophomore shortstop Brendan Flaherty (Narrangasett, R.I. / Lake Forest Academy), who reached on a walk.

The hosts re-took the lead in the next half-inning to go up 2-1 but Caltech again responded in its next time at the plate. A well-timed hit to right field from first-year left fielder Kailen Hargenrader (Bethesda, Md. / The Maret School) put the Beaver on first base before junior first baseman Cameron McNamee (Great Falls, Mont. / Great Falls) drew a one-out walk to push the rookie into scoring position. Next up to bat came Flaherty, who posted a massive single through the right side, scoring Hargenrader and tying the game at 2-2 before the Sagehens recorded the final two outs.

The Beavers scored once more in the top of the ninth as junior center fielder Jack Fishel (Baltimore, Md. / Boys' Latin School of Maryland) singled to right field, scoring sophomore Austin Wang (Palo Alto, Calif. / The Harker School) from second; the rookie entered the game on first base as a pinch runner before stealing second. Ultimately, it was not enough to overcome the lead built by the Sagehens.

Fishel led all players from both teams in hits, with three total across his five at-bats; the standout led the game in stolen bases, with two. The Beavers recorded eight hits across the nine frames

On the mound, senior right-handed pitcher Kyle Reese (Sammamish, Wash. / Skyline) recorded just one earned run in 2.1 innings.

The two teams returned to action 30 minutes after the conclusion of the early game to wrap up the series. Flaherty registered the first hit of the contest with a single to right field; Hu later led off the fifth inning with a hard-hit single to third base before taking advantage of a throwing error to score.

Senior designated hitter Leo Jenkins (New York, N.Y. / Beacon) made contact for a good single to center field in the seventh but it wasn't enough to overcome the nationally-ranked opponents.

Sophomore right-handed pitcher Luke Lamitina (Pittsburgh, Penn. / Winchester Thurston) impressed in his 4.1 innings on the bump, striking out four batters and letting up no runs in his 22 batters faced.

Game 1 of the three-game series began on Thursday as the Beavers hosted the Sagehens for an afternoon clash in Pasadena.

The Beavers' strongest pitching performance of the day came from first-year right-handed pitcher Arjun Pradhan (Marietta, Ga. / The Westminster Schools), who let up just three hits while striking out three batters in 4.1 innings.

The Beavers saw strong at-bats from junior designated hitter Thorsen Kristufek (McKinney, Texas / McKinney) and first-year catcher Jack Bernhardt (Littleton, Colo. / Columbine), who both singled to third base.

Next up for head coach Kevin Whitehead and the squad is a road showdown against Cal Lutheran University this Friday, Apr. 6 with action beginning at 3 p.m. Follow the game online at gocaltech.com/coverage.

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