If you left in the third inning of this game, you would not believe your eyes when you took a look at the final box score. Through the first third of the game, the tactics were practical and the runs were minimal; each club only scoring a pair of runs. The Bulldogs then plated five runs in the fourth inning, and scored five more in the next inning after Schreiner University scored four themselves in the top half. When the dust finally settled, it was Redlands who came away with a lopsided 23-8 victory Tuesday at the Yard.
The Schreiner Mountaineers came ready to play. Their first time up at the plate would have delighted any baseball purist. Their leadoff hitter got things started with a single and was moved over on a well-executed sacrifice bunt. The third batter then drove him in with a single, as the team got things going with an efficient first frame. But the Bulldogs countered by starting off with a leadoff single and taking advantage of one of the Mountaineers’ five errors on the afternoon. With two men on base, junior Rainier Aguilar singled to drive in one, and sophomore Brendan Moore doubled to bring in one more; giving redlands a 2-1 lead. The Mountaineers were able to plate one in the top of the third to even things up at two.
In the fourth inning, Redlands decided that the low-scoring affair wasn’t their style. They loaded the bases with no outs and set the stage for arguably their best hitter, Chris Scalisi, senior third baseman. As expected from the fourth-year standout, he came through with a triple into deep right-center that emptied the bases. He then scored on another triple, this one coming off the bat of Aguilar. A sacrifice fly brought him across the plate, and once the inning ended, the Bulldogs were sitting comfortably with a 7-2 lead.
The Mountaineers did get back into the game in the top of the fifth inning, albeit briefly. A pair of singles brought in four runs for the away side, and in an instant it was a one-run game again at 7-6. Unfortunately for them, that was as close as they would come to challenging the home team. The Bulldogs had another five-run inning in the bottom half, taking a 12-6 lead. While Schreiner eventually plated two more, Redlands continued their onslaught, almost doubling their runs in the final three frames. By the top of the ninth, the Bulldogs, who hit at an unreal .500 clip throughout the contest, had scored 23 runs in the eight innings they had a chance to hit in. The Mountaineers were unable to rally for a 15-run ninth inning, giving the Bulldogs an emphatic and dominant victory.
The first game of the Bulldogs’ week of non-conference action went exactly as they had hoped. After the annihilation, Redlands looks to keep the bats awake after the outburst when they welcome the Ithaca Bombers to The Yard on Friday.
photos contributed by Halie West, Redlands Bulldog photographer
