THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The Kingsmen went down early in the series to Redlands but looked for another series comeback win as they hosted the Saturday double header. The day started with a 7-2 win for the Kingsmen and ended with a 14-4 mercy rule win in the afternoon.
The Kingsmen got on the board early with two runs in the bottom of the first. The first run came from a triple delivered by Austin Carrillo. Kyle Reuser went from first all the way to home to start off the game.
Zach Bullard put up his first RBI of the day right after to send Reuser home. The Kingsmen kept the Bulldogs from scoring in the top of the second and put another one on the board in the bottom of the second to take the 3-0 lead. Jalen Parks sent one through the right side that got Will Watson across home plate.
The scoring picked back up in the bottom of the fourth with another RBI from Bullard that sent Sean Blandino across home plate.
The top of the fifth started with an electric out from Watson. Watson made a diving catch to silence the Bulldogs. After the fifth was over the Purple and Gold were up 5-2.
The Kingsmen were back on the board by an error in the bottom of the fifth and then finished their scoring in the seventh. Zach Lafata sent Watson home with an RBI through the right side.
Starting on the mound in game one for the Kingsmen was Max Kendall for four innings. John Frazier came in for 0.2 innings and secured the win for the Purple and Gold. Following Frazier was Bryan Tierney for 2.1 innings and Watson finished it off for the last two.
Game two started with Alexander Rivas on the mound for 6.1 innings. This earned Rivas the win. Stepping in to relieve him for 0.2 innings was Clay Rickerman.
It was a silent first two innings but Bullard opened it up in the bottom of the third with a grand slam over the right field wall.
The scoring picked back up in the fourth with four runs. It started with a double down the right field line from Reuser that scored Parks. Carrillo delivered a triple that sent Reuser home and put the Kingsmen up 7-0.
To finish off the bottom of the fourth was a three-run homer from Brendan Durfee. This gave the Kingsmen a comfortable lead of 10-0.
The Bulldogs started to fight back but the Kignsmen stayed active in the offense to keep a substantial lead.
The Purple and Gold put up another four runs in the bottom of the seventh and it started off with Watson scoring off an error from the Bulldog catcher. Carrillo hit a SAC fly into right field that scored Lafata and then Max Heverly tallied an RBI with a line drive down the left field line that sent Blandino home. The fourth and game-ending run came from Joseph Scalzo. Scalzo forced an error on the short stop that allowed Reuser to score and end the game.
The Kingsmen are back in Ullman Stadium on Friday for Senior Day.
Box Score: CLU 7, UR 3; CLU 14, UR 4
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Release by Cate Boller, Assistant Sports Information Director
