THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — After ten days off, the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen returned to SCIAC play with a pitchers dual against the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens. Scoreless through five, the Kingsmen's late rally came up just short in the 2-1 loss.
On the rubber for the Kingsmen, Nate Wehner went 6 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on six hits. He looked solid on the mound through the first five innings and fanned four batters, three swinging.
He began to lose some command of the ball in the sixth, though, and allowed a lead-off double to Nolan McCafferty followed by a single to Jeremiah Quezada. With runners on the corners, Wehren worked a popup to short and strikeout for two quick outs. However, a walk to Seth Stone loaded the bases and Duncan Skerrett counted four balls of his own to walk in the go-ahead run.
Jeff Rebello later entered for Wehren with one on and two out in the seventh, closing the inning and pitching 1 2/3 total innings of relief. In the top of the ninth, the Sagehens tacked on an additional run sparked by a leadoff single from Adam Hinthorne. Rebello allowed a sacrifice bunt before being replaced by Justin Fong who allowed Hinthorne to eventually score on a RBI single by McCafferty.
The Kingsmen began their rebuttal in the bottom of the ninth with a leadoff single by Tanner Wright. He advanced to third on a groundout and wild pitch before Ryne Yamashiro brought him home on a sacrifice fly to centerfield. However, the rally came short as Matt Sciumbato flied out to right for the final out.
Opposing Wehren on the mound, Tyler Yoshihara pitched a three-hit complete game for the Sagehens. He struck out five and remains a perfect 4-0 on the season.
Cal Lutheran moves to 13-10 on the season and 3-7 in the SCIAC. Pomona-Pitzer is now 14-6 on the season and 6-1 in the conference.
The Kingsmen look to bounce back and secure the series win tomorrow, March 24, 2018, in a double header at Pomona-Pitzer. Games are set for 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. PST.
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Release by Christy Effendie, Assistant Sports Information Director
