LOS ANGELES – The California Lutheran baseball team exploded for 10 runs in the final three innings of game one against Occidental, and then shutout the Tigers in game two as the Kingsmen won both games of the doubleheader, 12-3 and 5-0, Saturday afternoon at Anderson Baseball Field.
After losing the series opener to the Tigers on Friday, the Kingsmen bounced back to win both games on Saturday and took the series. Cal Lutheran improved to 8-6 overall and is now 3-3 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play. Oxy is now 4-4 and 3-3.
CLU used a balanced offense during the two games. Nick Coast, Cheynne Giles, Alec Iniguez, Daniel Parr and Matt Sciumbato each had two RBI.
Iniguez led the team with four hits, while Sciumbato and Anthony Sidley both chipped in with three more.
The Kingsmen also looked good on the mound. Derek Galvin pitched the first four innings of game one. He struck out six and only gave up five hits and two earned runs. Jeff Rebello came in for the next three innings. He was unstoppable as he struck out four Tigers and didn't even give up a hit. Rebello got the win and improved to 2-1 on the season. Christian Slattery and Sal Johnson pitched the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, as the Kingsmen shut down the Tigers.
CLU continued the superb pitching in game two. Troy Frazier pitched six strong innings. He struck out six batters and only gave up two hits. He improved his record to 2-0. Justin Fong came in for the next two innings and struck out three more batters. Slattery came in and closed it out as the trio combined for a shutout.
In the first game, Oxy had a 3-2 lead heading into the seventh inning. The Kingsmen tied the game with a RBI single from Parr. A few batters later, Tanner Wright hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Parr, and Cal Lutheran had the lead.
Doubles by Ryne Yamashiro and then Giles sparked the Kingsmen in eighth. Giles' double scored Yamashiro. The bases would eventually be loaded, and Coast was sent in to pinch hit. He singled and Sciumbato and Giles raced around to score. CLU got its final run of the inning off of an error. Cal Lutheran added four more runs in the ninth as they took the first game 12-3.
That momentum carried over to the start of the second game as the Kingsmen took a 2-0 lead after the first inning. Giles reached on an error as Wright scored. The very next at bat, Sciumbato doubled, scoring Giles.
The pitching then stepped up for the Kingsmen and kept the Tigers under control. Frazier was dealing and averaged one strikeout per inning.
CLU added more runs in the fourth and sixth innings. Yamashiro had a RBI single to give CLU a 3-0 lead in the fourth. Iniguez also hit a single, scoring Wright and Trevor Egan.
The pitching staff, Fong and Slattery, took care of the rest as the Kingsmen won the second game 5-0 and claimed the series.
Cal Lutheran remains on the road for one game before coming home. The Kingsmen take on Redlands Friday at 2:30 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 12, OXY 3; CLU 5, OXY 0
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director