CMS Baseball Edged 4-3 by George Fox in Season Opener

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Tyler Shaw singled in the tying run with two outs in the sixth inning to knot the score 3-3, but George Fox was able to win it in the eighth on a sacrifice fly as the Bruins defeated the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps baseball team 4-3 in the season opener for both teams at Arce Field.

The game was called after eight innings due to darkness, as the teams completed the first of a three-game weekend series to open the 2022 campaign. The two teams will play again in a doubleheader tomorrow at 11 a.m.

Diego Avila got the start and struck out six in 4.1 innings of work without an earned run, coming out of the game due to pitch counts being low in the early in the year. He left with the Stags trailed 2-1, a deficit which increased to 3-1 in the top of the sixth, before CMS temporarily swung the momentum after Pieter van Wingerden came out of the bullpen with a big strikeout to leave the bases loaded. 

In the bottom of the sixth, Julian Sanders went the other way with a triple down the line, and came home one out later on an RBI double from Cade Kritsch, who also went the other way down the right field line to plate his first RBI of the year. With two outs, Shaw came through with a line drive single to center to knot the score up at 3-3. 

Neither team could score in the seventh, as Marco Castillo started a 5-4-3 double play at third to erase a leadoff walk in the top half. In the eighth, though, a walk and a hit by pitch put two runners on and a double steal proved to be pivotal, as the Bruins were able to score the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly. Lalo Beron retired all three batters he faced after coming on in relief.

Pinch-hitter Kieran Sidebotham drew a walk in the bottom of the eighth, but CMS was unable to put the tying run across, and the game was halted in the top of the ninth with one out and the Bruins having pushed a fifth run across, but the game reverted back to the final complete inning once it was halted. 

After the narrow loss, CMS will look to break into the win column tomorrow with a twinbill against George Fox at 11 a.m.