PASADENA, Calif. – Caltech Baseball welcomed in SCIAC foe University of Redlands on Friday afternoon for the first game of a three-game set, defeating the Bulldogs 7-1.
Once again, Brendan Flaherty (Narragansett, R.I. / Lake Forest Academy) dominated in his eighth start of the season, carving up Bulldogs hitters left and right. Flaherty went the distance in this one, his second complete game this season. Flaherty finished the game only allowing five hits and issuing two walks. He struck out seven batters and allowed just one run in the ballgame.
The Beavers couldn't manage any offense in the first two innings with Bulldogs pitcher Joe Godoy retiring the first six batters in order. But Caltech got the momentum to swing in their favor, first-year shortstop William Minatel (Brecksville, Ohio / Brecksville-Broadview Heights) led the inning off with a walk and was quickly cashed in by senior catcher Edward Speer (Austin, Texas / Leander) who doubled down the left field line. Later in the inning, senior center fielder Jack Fishel (Baltimore, Md. / Boys' Latin School of Maryland) got his first hit of the game, tripling to right-center and scoring Speer. After three innings, the Beavers led 2-0.
Action resumed in the home half of the fourth inning with the Beavers looking to add some more runs on the board. Senior right fielder Thorsen Kristufek (McKinney, Texas / McKinney) reached on an error to start the rally. First-year left fielder Levi Alderete (Murrieta, Calif. / Murrieta Mesa) jumped on the first pitch he saw and hit a ground-rule double to left-center field, giving Caltech two runners in scoring position for Minatel.
Minatel was hit by the pitch, loading the bases for senior second baseman Garrett Knuf (Laguna Niguel, Calif. / Dana Hills). Knuf hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Kristufek and making it a 3-0 lead for the Beavers. With runners on first and third, Speer would come in clutch again, this time with a RBI single to put the Beavers up 4-0. Back-to-back walks to first baseman Quinn Hartman (Huntington Beach, Calif. / Marina) and Fishel scored another run to give Caltech a 5-0 lead.
Redlands responded with a run of its own in the top of the seventh inning to ruin Flaherty's shutout. Right Fielder Gabriel Ceja doubled to start the inning and was batted in by Bulldog's catcher Kaiya Saito who ripped a single into center. This would be the only run Redlands scored as Flaherty got out of the inning with a lineout to Fishel in center.
In the bottom of the eighth, Caltech added two more insurance runs off the bats of the one and two hitters in Hartman and Fishel. Both hitters singled with runners on to add to the Beavers lead and that's how the game would end. Caltech got their third win vs Redlands in program history and now has defeated them in two of their last three meetings dating back to 2024.
Head Coach Kevin Whitehead and his Beavers will make the trip to Redlands tomorrow for the remaining two games of this three-game set, a doubleheader scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Game two's rough estimate for the first pitch will be at 2 p.m.
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