REDDING, Calif. – Caltech Baseball traveled north this weekend to battle Simpson University in a three-game set. Friday's game marked the first-ever meeting between the Beavers and the Red Hawks. 

In that contest, Caltech struck first with two hits in the opening frame. Sophomore left fielder Quinn Hartman (Huntington Beach, Calif / Marina) led off the game with a double and was driven in by third baseman Mark Hu (San Jose, Calif. / The Harker School) just two batters later. The senior leads the Beavers in runs batted in this season with 14. 

Senior Brendan Flaherty (Narragansett, RI / Lake Forest Academy) was tasked with protecting the early lead. He turned in another solid performance. In Flaherty's first five innings of work, he limited Simpson to just three runs and racked up four strikeouts.  

The Institute's innings leader also drove home junior Riley Foard (San Francisco, Calif / San Francisco University) for its second run of the game in the fourth inning. Flaherty's offensive success continued during game one of Saturday's doubleheader, where he scored Caltech's first run of the game in the second frame and set the tone for the Beavers' most successful offensive game of the series. 

In the third inning, Hu drove in Hartman for the second time in the series. The Beavers entered the fourth inning trailing 5-2 but quickly pieced together a three-hit, three-run rally to tie the game at five. Saturday's 11:00 a.m. start marked the second time this season that the Beavers had scored in three consecutive innings. 

Caltech will look to build off its offensive momentum this Friday at 3:00 p.m. when the Beavers visit Redlands. On Saturday March 28, the Beavers will host Redlands for a doubleheader with game one starting at 11:00 a.m.