REDLANDS, Calif. – Caltech Baseball took the trip to Redlands Saturday afternoon for the remaining two games of the three-game series.
The offense struggled for the Beavers following their 7-1 win against Redlands on Friday as they only managed two runs between the two games.
In game one, Caltech couldn't get anything going against the Bulldogs starter Erik Radder who had himself a day. Radder went seven innings only allowing four hits and striking out five batters. Although the offensive production wasn't there, Beavers starter Joseph Pieper (Palatine, Ill. / Palatine) put in a solid performance. Pieper pitched six innings where he allowed three hits, three runs and struck out one.
From the plate, five Beavers tallied hits in the game with Jack Fishel (Baltimore, Md. / Boys' Latin School of Maryland) and Jack Bernhardt (Littleton, Colo. / Columbine) both getting on base twice with a single and walk each. Fishel also stole a base in game one, his ninth of the season. In the end, Redlands strung together timely hits and won this game 6-0.
In game two, the Beavers' offense bounced back, tallying 12 hits on the day but only two runs. Caltech faced Nathan Buchan of Redlands who has been the Bulldog's ace so far this year and put together some solid at-bats. Trailing 2-0 in the top half of the fifth, the Beavers got on the board.
A single from the shortstop Brendan Flaherty (Narragansett, R.I. / Lake Forest Academy) followed by a double from right fielder Thorsen Kristufek (McKinney, Texas / McKinney) put two runners in scoring position for the left fielder Levi Alderete (Murrieta, Calif. / Murrieta Mesa). Alderete cashed in on the scoring chance as he hit an infield single to score Caltech's first run of the day.
In the top of the eighth inning, the Beavers would score again, this time off the bat of second baseman William Minatel (Brecksville, Ohio / Brecksville-Broadview Heights) who singled to right field scoring third baseman Mark Hu (San Jose, Calif. The Harker School) from second.
Multiple Beavers had multi-hit performances in this game with Minatel and Hu leading the team on the day with three hits each. Kristufek and Alderete collected two hits themselves as well, but ultimately the defense proved to be the biggest problem.
Defensively, Caltech struggled in game two. The Beavers made three errors and, as a result, allowed four unearned runs to score which put the game out of reach. Redlands scored six runs in the home half of the sixth inning, three of those coming from errors.
Head Coach Kevin Whitehead and his Beavers will look to regroup and shift their focus toward their next SCIAC opponent the University of La Verne. Caltech will play a three-game series starting Friday where they will begin on the road before coming back to North Field for a doubleheader on Saturday. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 3 p.m.
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