CMS Baseball Stretches Win Streak to Six, Sweeps Two from Macalester

TUCSON, Ariz. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps baseball team extended its winning streak to six games by defeating Macalester in a pair of seven-inning contests, winning the opener 8-6 and taking the nightcap 5-0 behind a 10-strikeout performance from Dominic Rolla at the Tucson Invitational on Saturday.

With the wins, CMS now stands at 14-4 on the season with six straight victories, including a three-game sweep of Pomona-Pitzer last weekend, and three wins at the Tucson Invitational thus far. Macalester slips to 1-3 on the season with the loss. 

Julian Sanders picked up his 10th home run of the season in the opening game, and added a two-run double in the nightcap. He now stands just three shy of the CMS record for home runs in a single season, set by Tyler Laughery in 1997, with half the regular season still to be played. 

Everybody in the starting lineup had at least one hit in the first game, led by a 3-for-5 effort with two runs scored from Tyler Shaw, while Paul Roche (2-for-3) and Jack Potter (2-for-4) had multi-hit games as well. 

Shaw got things going in the opener with a leadoff double and Potter followed with a bunt single. After a balk brought home the first run, Sanders homered to bring home two and stretch it to 3-0. Roche followed with a double and Kieran Sidebotham had an RBI single to make it a 4-0 lead after the first. 

Macalester got back within 4-3, but Slader Spoor had an RBI single in the third, and Nick Wilson had an RBI single in the fourth, followed by a Roche sacrifice fly and a Derek Seneker RBI double to push it to 8-3. Hamilton Finefrock threw 1.2 innings of scoreless relief to get the win, and Lucas Welch struck out three in two innings to get the save. 

In the nightcap, Dominic Rolla started and threw 5.2 innings of shutout baseball, allowing just four hits while striking out 10, to get the win. Wilson had an RBI single in a two-run first inning, and Sanders hit a two-run double in the third to stretch it to 4-0. Shaw added a sacrifice fly in the fourth for another insurance run. 

Rolla gave way to Andrew Blackett in the bottom of the sixth, with two on and two out, and Blackett was able to get a big strikeout to end the inning. He then retired the side on three batters in the seventh, with the help of a double play turned by Seneker at second base. 

Bryce Didrickson was 2-for-3 in the nightcap, and Potter reached in all three plate appearances without an at-bat, walking twice and earning a hit by pitch. Shaw was 1-for-2 with two runs scored and an RBI. 

CMS will complete its four-game trip tomorrow with a single game against Gustavus Adolphus before getting back to SCIAC play with a three-game series with Cal Lutheran on Friday and Saturday.