THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.– No. 15 Cal Lutheran baseball continued its hot start as the Kingsmen took down No. 1 Chapman, 8-3, on Friday afternoon at Ullman Stadium.
The Kingsmen (11-0, 6-0 SCIAC) had Alexander Rivas on the mound, opposite of Chapman's ace, and it was Rivas that lit up the box score. Rivas pitched 7.1 innings, striking out four and giving up just two earned runs. He won his third game of the season and remained perfect at 3-0.
The fire power came from all over the lineup as Zach Bullard, Austin Carrillo and Ryne Yamashiro all tallied two RBI. Carillo and Yamashiro both recorded three hits as Bullard added two.
Tanner Wright provided the spark in the top of the first inning as he led things off with a triple down the right field line. Carrillo promptly brought Wright home with a groundout, putting the Kingsmen out in front to start the contest.
Cal Lutheran extended their lead with a two-run second inning to make it 3-0. Zach Bullard ripped a double over the left-fielder's head to start the rally. Jalen Parks kept the line moving when he got hit by a pitch, bringing Kyle Reuser to the plate. The freshman was asked to bunt the runners into scoring position, and managed to lay down a perfectly-placed bunt that rolled all the way to the shortstop to load the bases. Wright came up big once again at the top of the order, scoring Bullard with a groundout to double the lead.
Some nifty base running brought the third run to the plate for the Purple and Gold, as Wright got in a rundown during a first-and-third situation to allow Parks to score from third. This gave Cal Lutheran a 3-0 advantage heading into the third frame.
The visitors got one run back in the top of the third but the Kingsmen were quick to respond. Bullard plated two runs with a two-out base hit up the middle to put CLU up 5-1 in the home half of the third.
After another scoreless inning from Rivas, Cal Lutheran made it a six-run lead after base hits from Carrillo and Ryne Yamashiro brought two more runs across to make it 7-1.
The Panthers loaded the bases in the bottom half of the sixth and nearly found their way back into the game. However, they were held scoreless after an amazing catch from Carrillo, who tracked down a ball at the warning track, to keep Chapman off the board in the frame.
The visitors did not go down without a fight as a two-run homer in the top of the eight cut the lead to five runs. Rivas would hand the ball off to Tyler Hazlett, who did well to end the threat and keep the score at 8-3 heading into the bottom of the eighth.
Clay Rickerman toed the rubber in the ninth and worked through the final frame without too much trouble as he punched out the final hitter to clinch the win over the nation's top team.
The Kingsmen continue their series with Chapman on Saturday as Cal Lutheran travels to Orange, Calif., for a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m.
Box Score: CLU 8, CU 3
CLU Instagram: http://instagram.com/clusports#
BB Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kingsmen_baseball/
CLU Twitter: https://twitter.com/clusports
BB Twitter: https://twitter.com/CLUBaseball
CLU Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/clusports
Hashtags: #clusports #ownthethrone #goregals #gokingsmen #theSCIAC #ncaad3
Release by Jeff Rebello, Assistant Sports Information Director
