REDLANDS — It would have been a more storybook ending for Occidental College baseball team to punch its ticket to the inaugural SCIAC Postseason Tournament with a dramatic comeback at Redlands on Sunday.
But as Logan Allen (Atascadero) singled to left, Chris Caldwell (Santa Clarita) slipped rounding third with one out in the top of the ninth inning and was thrown out before he could get back to the bag. Oxy's threat ended shortly after and the Tigers fell 4-3 despite taking an early lead in the first and tying the game in the fifth.
Turns out La Verne and Chapman slipped too.
La Verne lost 5-4 at Pomona-Pitzer and Chapman lost 6-5 to Cal Lutheran on an error in the bottom of the 10th, clinching at least the No. 4 seed for the Tigers in the double elimination tournament starting May 3.
If Redlands wins its second game on Sunday against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Oxy is No. 4. If Redlands loses and Oxy beats CMS on Tuesday in its season finale, the Tigers are the No. 3.
Oxy will play at No. 1 Cal Lutheran if they are the No. 4 seed on Friday or at No. 2 Pomona-Pitzer if they are the No. 3. On Saturday and Sunday, all tournament games will be played at Cal Lutheran.
Regardless of the math, Oxy coach Luke Wetmore is proud of his team, which has been part of an Oxy baseball resurgence after 30 years of losing seasons. Last year the Tigers had the best season of any Oxy baseball team since the last SCIAC Champion in 1982 and this year they've already eclipsed last season's win total. Now just three teams and one weekend stand between them and the NCAA tournament.
"Believe it," Wetmore said. "We've believed in ourselves all year. It hasn't always been pretty but these guys compete everyday, they believe in each other and I could not be happier for our seniors, our program and the college."
Allen, who has been the leader of that transition from bottom feeder to contender, extended his hitting streak to 11 games and is now just one hit shy of 200, going 2 for 4. Earlier this year he became Oxy's all-time hit leader and he has hit safely in all but six games.
As a team, Oxy had no problem with the bats either, they just didn't translate directly into runs as many times as they needed to. Five Tigers recorded multi-hit days and the Tigers totaled 14 as a group. Scott Hong (Los Angeles) led the way, going 3 for 5 with a double and a run scored. Pedro Aldape (Sherman Oaks), Victor Munoz (La Verne) and A.J. Libunao (Huntington Beach) all went 2 for 4.
Oxy's Johnathan Brooks, who is third in the SCIAC in hitting (.413), went 1 for 5 with an RBI-double.
Oxy opened the game with a pair of runs in the first. Hong led off with a double, Johnathan Brooks (Huntington Beach) brought him home with a double and Riley Smith (Bellevue, Wash.) drove in Brooks with a ground out to short.
Connor Hancock put the Bulldogs in front, 3-2, with a two-run home run during a three-run third. Elliot Smith drove in Redlands' first run with an RBI-double.
Munoz got Oxy back to even with an RBI-single in the fifth.
The Bulldogs strung together three hits for the winning run in the seventh.