PASADENA (Mar. 19, 2017) – A collaborative effort from the Caltech baseball team earned the Beavers a come-from-behind 8-6 victory over Bard College on Sunday to win the weekend series, 2-1.
Junior shortstop Chris McCarren (Kenilworth, Ill. / North Shore Country Day) went 4-for-4 at the dish, marking the second time in 2017 he has gone perfect at the plate. He also knocked in two runs, scored two runs and walked once while smacking a pair of doubles. Junior Garrett Levine (Columbus, Ohio / Columbus Academy) picked up the victory in relief thanks to a late surge from the Caltech offense. The win marked the Beavers' fifth of the season, which is their most official wins in a season since 1966.
Freshman Cortland Perry (New York, N.Y. / The Dalton School) got the start for Caltech and earned the Beavers their third quality start of the weekend. Perry struck out just two batters but held the Raptors to only two runs on seven hits and three walks over six innings. The Beavers spotted Perry with a three-run lead in the third inning keyed by his own two-RBI single to bring home McCarren and sophomore catcher Mark Burleson (Ladera Ranch, Calif. / Tesoro). Perry pitched with the lead for three more innings and left the game with Caltech still on top, 3-2.
Both teams' bats came alive in the seventh inning. Levine entered the game with two runners on baseand was hit with some tough luck as a series of slow grounders hit the perfect spots on either side of the infield, leading to the Raptors scoring four runs to take a three-run lead. The Beavers got behind their pitcher immediately in the bottom of the inning, however, loading the bases with none out and chipping away at Bard's new-found lead little by little. No Caltech hit scored more than one runner at a time, but altogether they proved equally effective in the Beavers regaining the lead. The final blow came on a groundout when sophomore Connor Moffatt (Charleston, W.Va. / George Washington) scored junior David Watson (Windsor, Colo. / Windsor) from third base.
With the seventh inning in the rear view mirror and the Beavers now back in front, Levine went to work. He gave up a single to lead off the eighth inning, but did not allow a single baserunner the rest of the way and mixed in one strikeout to pick up his first victory of the season.
Head Coach Matthew Mark and the Beavers will return to SCIAC play on Friday, Mar. 24, when they travel to the University of Redlands (13-9 overall, 5-4) before returning home to meet the Bulldogs for a Saturday doubleheader on the 25th.
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