CMS Finishes 1-2 In First SCIAC Series

The Stags opened up conference play with a three game series against the Redlands Bulldogs. Although the bats struggled early, the offense woke up enough to salvage one of the three games behind a strong outing by junior David Ulrich.

In the Friday game, a battle of aces that pitted the Stags' Alex Sunderland vs Redlands' Derek Johnson, CMS fell 4-0. Although Johnson, a preseason All-American, fanned eleven batters, the Stags had multiple chances to do damage, but failed to convert. Will Knowles, Brian Gose, Brett Watanabe and Anthony Bouvier each managed one hit. However, the bats couldn't muster any support for tough-luck starter Sunderland, who gave up two earned runs to go with seven strikeouts in seven strong innings of work.

In the first game of the Saturday doubleheader, the Stags jumped out of the gates quickly with a three run first and never lost the lead, winning 6-4. Jason Rehhaut set the tone early with a two RBI double in the first frame. Rehhaut, Watanabe, and Bouvier each tallied two hits for CMS as they jumped out to an 5-0 lead by the fifth inning. Ulrich (pictured) finished with nine strikeouts and three earned runs in seven innings of work to pick up the win. Matt Allan came in with the baseball loaded in the eighth, but protected the Stags' lead over the final two innings for his first save.

In the afternoon game, both teams combined for twenty nine hits. Stags' starter Chad Hadzinsky labored in 5.2 innings of work allowing eight runs on thirteen hits. Redlands led 5-2 after five innings and blew the game open with a three run sixth that CMS could never recover from. Matt Rothlisberger and Andor Kesselman both impressed out of the bullpen, keeping this one close over the final three frames. Brett Watanabe notched two hits, including the Stags' first homerun of the young season. Scott Witte and Mark Gose added two base hits of their own while Brian Gose had season-high three hits, but it wasn't enough in the 10-5 loss.

CMS (1-4, 1-2) returns to the diamond this Friday at Caltech.  They will play the Beavers at 2:30 and then return home for a doubleheader with them on Saturday at 11:00.