LOS ANGELES — A.J. Libunao (Huntington Beach) hit his third home run of the season, starterJoseph Kling (Kirksville, Mo.) threw 4.1 scoreless innings and Occidental College baseball coach Luke Wetmore remained undefeated against his alma mater with a 5-3 victory over Redlands in Game 1 of a three-game series at Anderson Field on Friday.
Wetmore, who's in his second season as the Tigers' skipper, improves to 5-0 against the Bulldogs (15-11, 11-8 SCIAC).
Libunao, Oxy's RBI leader, drove in his 21st run of the season with a blast over the left field wall in the bottom of the sixth and finished the game 2 for 3.
Kling struck out five batters, gave up four hits and had no walks in 4.1 innings.
The victory jumps the Tigers (19-8, 10-6 SCIAC) above Redlands in the SCIAC standings, putting Oxy in third place, three games back of Cal Lutheran for first and three games behind Pomona-Pitzer in the loss column, for second.
John Ugai (Durango, Colo.) pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief, earning the win to improve to 2-0. Freshman Scott Ericksen (Lafayette) earned his first career save.
Redlands' Elliot Smith was charged with his first loss of the season, giving up five earned runs in five innings.
The Tigers totaled 12 hits with all eight starters getting a knock except senior shortstop Logan Allen(Atascadero), who had his hitting streak end at 13 games. Allen was a split second late to first on bunt attempt in the third and was robbed of a hit on a line drive to shallow left center that Alex Sheiwe made a fully-extended, diving catch on in the sixth.
Alec Strain (Sacramento) was 3 for 4 with a run, Scott Hong (Los Angeles) went 2 for 4 with three stolen bases and a run, Victor Munoz (La Verne) went 1 for 2 with a run and an RBI, and Johnathan Brooks (Huntington Beach) went 2 for 4 with an RBI.
Brooks is now leading the SCIAC in hitting (.458) and his overall average is at .461.
Jordan Dresner had the best day for the Bulldogs, going 3 for 5 with a run scored.
The Tigers scored one run in the second, one in the third, two in the fourth and one more in the sixth. Redlands added its three runs late. The Bulldogs scored two in the sixth and one in the eighth.
Redlands threatened a big inning in the fifth, but Thomas Lalli (Bountiful, Utah) got Mark Tumlins to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat.
Smith and Paul Dippel both struggled with their control, hitting two Oxy batters each.
The Tigers and Bulldogs play a doubleheader at Redlands tomorrow. Game 1 starts at 11 a.m