REDLANDS, Calif. — It was the season opener for No. 7 Cal Lutheran Baseball as the Kingsmen held off the Redlands Bulldogs and got a 6-4 win on Friday afternoon. 

The Kingsmen are currently ranked No. 7 in the country by D3baseball.com. The game came down to the wire as CLU was up 5-4 in the top of the eighth. The Purple and Gold got an extra run, and shut down the Bulldogs to clinch their first win.

The first two innings were close, but in the top of the third, the Kingsmen's runs started rushing in as they went up 5-0. The runs started as Kyle Reuser tripled to right center, scoring Kyle Reuser for the first score of the game.

Zach Bullard and Harrison Dunkel both added RBI in the trips to the plate to make it 3-0. Jalen Parks capped off the inning as he doubled to center.

Cal Lutheran had a comfortable lead until the sixth, but Redlands was able to trickle in a few runs at a time making it 5-4 with only two innings to go.

The Kingsmen were able to stop the Bulldogs momentum after the seventh and tallied another run of their own to give them a two run lead for the rest of the game.  Dunkel recorded his second RBI of the game. 

Alexander Rivas held down the mound for six innings and only had to deliver 52 pitches, 35 of which were strikes. He earned his first win of the season. Clay Rickerman came in for the last three innings to seal the win for Cal Lutheran. He was able to leave three Bulldogs standing in the batter's box as he struck them out . 

Dunkel led the Kinsgmen going for 3-for-3 at the plate. Parks joined Dunkel with two RBI each. Gordon Richardson contributed to the offense with a double, in his first showing with the Kingsmen. 

The Kingsmen will be back on the field tomorrow. They have a doubleheader at home, against Redlands,  which start at 11 AM and 2:30 PM. 

Box Score: CLU 6, UR 4
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Release by Cate Boller, Sports Information Assistant; Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director