CMS Wins California Invitational Tournament
The Stags, playing host to teams from across the country, continued to play their best baseball of the year at Arce Field this past weekend. In the first game, Alex Sunderland shut down Ithaca College from New York, the 35th ranked team nationally, throwing seven innings of one run ball with eight strikeouts. Leadoff man Will Knowles had two hits and five RBI's while two batter Brian Gose had two runs scored and two RBIs of his own as CMS jumped out to an early lead before putting this game away with a six-run fourth inning. CMS has now beaten three nationally ranked opponents including Redlands and Pomona-Pitzer,.
David Ulrich followed on the hill with an equally impressive start vs. Denison University from Ohio. Ulrich threw a complete game one-hitter allowing only one unearned run with eight strikeouts. Juniors Brian Gose and Jason Rehhaut each had three hit, three RBI days as the Stags offense poured it on in this 14-1 win. Senior Michael Kotler notched his first career hit with a line drive single in the sixth inning.
On day two of the tournament, Chad Hadzinsky took the mound vs. Carleton College from Minnesota. Hadzinsky allowed only two earned runs over six and two thirds innings of work while striking out three. Freshman Andor Kesselman (pictured0 pitched two and a third innings of perfect relief and recorded his first career win. Knowles, Gose, Scott Witte, and Brett Watanabe all notched multi-hit games as the Stags took the 7-5 victory.
In the final game, Watanabe took the hill against the University of Puget Sound from Washington. He labored through three and one third innings, allowing three earned runs, before being relieved by Steven Ferguson. Ferguson struck out five in two and two thirds innings of work, allowing three earned runs himself, before giving way to Matt Allan. Allan pitched a scoreless inning and a third before Kesselman once again pitched impressively in relief for the final five outs. Although the Stags had a 5-3 lead in the fourth, they found themselves down 7-5 with only six outs remaining. Every member of the lineup had at least one hit in the game as CMS scored two in the eighth to tie it and Witte tallied the game-winning run in the ninth. CMS has now won seven out of their last eight games and takes on SCIAC foe Whittier this weekend.