REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands baseball team (3-1) defeated LeTourneau University 5-3 on Friday evening at The Yard as head coach Aaron Holley got his 200th win with the Bulldogs. He is the fourth coach in program history to reach the 200-win mark.
During the game things got off to a rocky start in the first when the Yellow Jackets hit a two-run home run. The Bulldogs, however, got the two runs back in the bottom half of the inning Tyler Preece singled home Jared Anderson and then Gabriel Ceja tied it with a single to left center as Preece came around.
LeTourneau retook the lead in the fourth when the leadoff runner reached base on an error and then scored when the next two hitters singled and doubled as they led 3-2.
In the bottom of the seventh Redlands had their first two batters flyout, but Luke De Vries at the top of the order came up and flipped a double down the left field line. Following an Anderson infield single to shortstop, De Vries came around from third on a pass ball to tie the game at three.
An inning later after starter Tyler Reiter shutdown the Yellow Jackets with a one-two-three inning, Nathan Miller led off the eight with a solo home run to left field for the game-winning run. Two batters later Cade McClelland went deep as he hit the netting on the scoreboard in right field to give the pitching staff some breathing room, 5-3, heading into the inning.
Jakob Russell came on in relief of Reiter in the ninth and got a strikeout to begin his appearance. He then recorded the second out when he dove for a little popup down the first base line. The final out of the game came on a flyout to center as he secured his second save of the season.
Reiter got his second win of the season as five of the nine Bulldog hits came from Anderson and Ceja.
For Holley this is his 11th season with Redlands and in five of them he has won at least 20 games as he looks to lead the Bulldogs into the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Postseason Tournament for the sixth time and the NCAA Tournament for the second.
Redlands will host LeTourneau for doubleheader tomorrow at The Yard with first pitch of game one at 11:00 a.m. as the Bulldogs will look for at least a split to win their second series in as many opportunities to begin 2024.