THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Senior Justin Fong rung up nine straight zeros against the Occidental Tigers, Friday, dazzling in a two-hit complete game shutout. Behind him, the Cal Lutheran offense did their part as well, stringing together six runs on 14 hits, including an opposite field homer by junior Ryan Probst.
The 6-0 victory is the third complete game of year by Fong, his previous two coming against Chapman on March 15 and Caltech on March 29. This afternoon, the southpaw took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and recorded seven punchouts in his seventh victory of the season. Hats go off to his defense as well, notably senior shortstop Trevor Egan who turned a line-out double play to end the fifth and another in the ninth to end the game.
On the other end, the Kingsmen offense carved up Occidental's ace, Nolan McCarthy, who entered the contest as the SCIAC's leader in wins and ERA. Cal Lutheran roughed him up, though, tallying the most hits and tying for the most runs McCarthy has allowed this season.
Senior Anthony Sidley started the scoring surge in the third with a two-out single to center to score sophomore Tanner Wright. The following frame, freshman Jalen Parks added an RBI of his own with a bouncer through the left side to make it 2-0.
Up in the fifth, Probst highlighted the hit parade with a long ball over the right field wall, his third homer of the season, to push the lead to 4-0. The same inning, junior Cortez Espinoza brought home Ryne Yamashiro to add another run on the board.
Capping things off, Sidley notched his second RBI-knock on the day with a single to left for the sixth and final run of the game. The infielder finished 3-for-5 on the day, his fourth game in his last seven with three or more hits. Joining him with multi-hit outings were Probst, sophomore Daniel Parr, Espinoza and Parks.
The Friday victory moves Cal Lutheran to 24-11 on the season and 13-6 in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, still tied for second with La Verne and just one game behind Chapman in first. The Kingsmen return for games two and three of the series against Occidental, tomorrow, in a double header at 11 a.m. on the Tigers' Anderson Field.
Post Game Interview: SP Justin Fong and LF Ryan Probst
Box Score: CLU 6, OXY 0
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Release by Christy Effendie, Assistant Sports Information Director