RIVERSIDE--- California Baptist baseball found their bats on Saturday evening as they welcomed Utah Tech for the second installment of the weekend Western Athletic Conference series, defeating the Trailblazers 8-7. The Lancers improve to 1-1 in WAC play and are now 12-11 on the year, while Utah Tech drops to 1-1 in conference and are now 14-12.
The Trailblazers got off to a hot start after putting a pair on the scoreboard via a home run and an RBI double. The Lancers responded in the bottom of the second after Ryan Kim knocked a left-field solo shot, but Utah Tech would pad their lead with a pair of home runs to keep CBU at arm's length. California Baptist got busy in the bottom of the fourth and loaded the bases after a trio of Lancers battled in the box to get on base. Jake Brown launched a ball to center field for a bases-clearing double that tallied three runs for the Lancers before a fielding error by the Trailblazers brought home Brown to tie the game 5-5.
The game did not stay tied long after a throwing error on CBU's side brought home two more runs for the visitors. CBU was unable to start anything at the bottom of the fifth but did stave off the Trailblazers in the top of the sixth to keep it a two-run game. It was in the bottom of the sixth that Matt Chavez got on base just before Jake Brown drilled a 412-foot bomb over the left field wall to knot the game 7-7.
Andrew Rudd dominated the next three innings for the Lancers, striking out the side in the seventh before another 1-2-3 inning in the eighth. Kim came up big in the bottom of the inning after knocking an RBI single that scored Ben Castelli to give CBU its first lead of the night. The Lancers held tight to the 8-7 scoreline after Rudd delivered another 1-2-3 inning to even the conference series.
Kim was dominant at the plate on Saturday evening, posting three hits, two runs, and two RBI. Both Brown and Chavez tallied two hits, but Brown led the squad with five RBI on the night. Rudd tallied four punchouts and no hits during his four innings of work, earning him the pitching win.
The Lancers will return on Sunday afternoon to Totman Stadium for a rubber match against the Trailblazers at noon.
