THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Just two days removed from a tough loss to non-conference opponent Chapman, the Cal Lutheran baseball team bounced back with a methodical 20-0 victory over Caltech at "Sparky" Anderson Field to being its weekend series with the Beavers on Friday.
Box Score: CLU 20, CIT 0 - F/7
Needing wins to stay in contention for a regular season SCIAC title, the Kingsmen made quick work of their conference foe and the game was called after seven innings.
Cal Lutheran got off to a fast start, scoring three first inning runs. Iggy Wagner was first to score off a Tyler Kem single, and Brandyn Delgado later drove in both Kem and Nick Boggan on a standup triple.
After a quiet second inning, CLU's bats roared back to life in the third. Kem led off the inning with a triple,, Boggan walked and Danny Galinot doubled off the wall in left center to score the pair. Gallinot would later score on a Kevin Eto single, and Garrett Smith drove in Eto to push the score to 7-0.
It was a similar story the rest of the way for the home team as the Kingsmen drove in three more runs in the fourth. The first batter Caltech relief pitcher Mason Freedman faced would be Kevin Leonard in the fifth inning. Leonard sent the 2-0 offering over the wall in right-center for his first collegiate varsity home run.
The blast highlighted a nine-run outburst in the fifth and CLU would add another run in the sixth to cap off the scoring.
Kem, Leonard and Smith each totaled three hits on the day, and Delgado knocked in four runs with his pair of triples.
The offense outburst snaps Cal Lutheran out of a six-game SCIAC stretch in which the Kingsmen offense scored just 22 runs and went 1-5 falling from first to fifth in the conference standings.
John LaMoure had a strong start on the mound for the Kingsmen throwing four scoreless innings. The lefty struck out seven batters while only giving up two hits and a solitary walk. LaMoure is now 5-3 on the year with a 2.24 ERA.
Facing runners on the corners and no outs in the fourth, LaMoure responded by striking out the next three batters in order to end Caltech's biggest threat on the day.
Pitcher Chris Park came on in relief and kept the Beavers off the score sheet, throwing three scoreless innings and earning his first save of the season. Park fanned four batters and only allowed two hits on the day.
Cal Lutheran (17-13, 11-7 SCIAC) travels to Caltech (0-22, 0-19 SCIAC) tomorrow, Apr. 9 for a doubleheader with game one scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.