ORANGE, Calif. - Rider Gordon hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps baseball team a 6-5 win over Chapman in the final game of a three-game series on Sunday at Hart Park.
The home run capped off an unusual weekend of schedule adjustments due to rain, which saw CMS play Pacific Lutheran on Sunday in the morning in the middle of the Chapman series, which the Lutes won 4-3. Chapman won the series opener on Friday 11-9, and then defeated CMS 12-0 yesterday in the first game of a scheduled doubleheader at Pomona-Pitzer.
The second game of the Chapman doubleheader was moved to the turf field at Hart Park on Sunday, and the regularly scheduled Sunday game with Pacific Lutheran at Azusa Pacific was shifted to Hart Park as well.
The Stags were close to suffering a three-game sweep to the Panthers, as they trailed 5-3 going into the bottom of the ninth. Tyler Shaw led things off with a walk to bring the tying run to the plate, and Bryce Didrickson was hit by a pitch to put two runs on and nobody out. Gordon then followed with his first career homer, driving a ball over the left field fence to give the Stags the dramatic win.
CMS took a 2-1 lead in the first on an RBI double from Julian Sanders, who came home on an RBI single from Jack Potter. Dillon Martin had an RBI single in the third to give CMS a 3-2 lead before Chapman scored three times in the fourth, which is where the score stood until the ninth.
Lucas Welch threw the final two innings to get the win for the Stags, after Hamilton Finefrock threw 2.2 hitless innings to keep it a 5-3 game. Gordon, Mazzone and Potter each finished 2-for-4 at the plate.
Against Pacific Lutheran, Mazzone was 2-for-2 at the plate, and Potter was 2-for-4, but the Lutes scored the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth to take the 4-3 win. Dillon Martin had a two-run single to put CMS ahead 2-1 in the fourth, and Shaw had an RBI single in the fifth.
In Saturday's game at Pomona-Pitzer, Sanders and Martin were 2-for-3, but Brandon Menzel threw a complete-game shutout for the Panthers in a game that was shortened to seven innings.
CMS will be back in action when it has a three-game series with Whittier next weekend, including a Friday home game at Azusa Pacific.
