LOS ANGELES, Calif. (March 27, 2009) – For the second time
this spring Matthew Jones hurled a complete game.
Unfortunately the result this afternoon on Anderson Field was an
unfavorable one for the senior righty as the Tigers fell to the No.
15 Cal Lutheran University Kingsmen, 6-5, despite a late spark of
offense by the men in black and orange.
Occidental had a tough start, allowing a pair of unearned runs
in the first inning. Cal Lutheran added a run in the fourth and
fifth innings on lead-off singles by Nick Reitz and Jordan Ott,
respectively, to take a 4-0 lead.
The Tigers cut the deficit in half during the bottom of the
seventh when Richie Veihl led off with a single
and Nick Saraceni reached on an error, pushing
Veihl to third, bringing up the top of the order. Jason
Jebbia used an infield single to drive in the first run of
the game and Dan Kelley followed with an RBI to
score Saraceni from third.
CLU quickly tacked on another pair of runs with a leadoff double
by Nick Dingman, his second of the game, followed by a single off
Reitz's bat, who was then caught trying to steal second on
the play when Oxy's catcher Spencer Woolwine
gunned a strike to second base where Jebbia was waiting to make the
tag. Richard Michelin then sent a line-drive homerun over the left
field fence for the Kingsmen's final run of the day.
In the Tigers' part of the eighth they used a two-out
rally to connect for three consecutive doubles off the bats of
Glenn Gray, Woolwine and Veihl, plating a pair.
While Jones' retired the side in order in the ninth, the
Tigers' offense wasn't done quite yet.
A valiant effort to send the game into extras fell short despite
a pair of bases loaded situations. The first two batters in the
bottom of the ninth were hit by pitches and a CLU error allowed the
fifth Tiger run to score. An intentional walk to Kieran
Doherty loaded the bases, but a 5-2-3 double-play quickly
ended that threat. Another intentional walk to Gray again left the
bags full of Tigers', but a ground ball to shortstop ended
the Occidental come-back effort, dropping the Tigers' record
to 10-13 with an 0-7 SCIAC mark.
Jones (3-3) scattered 10 hits allowing six runs, four earned,
while striking out four and walking none.
Cal Lutheran (18-5, 6-1 SCIAC) used four pitchers in the
contest. Greg Gelber picked up his sixth win of the season and
Robbie Selden recorded his third save of the year.
For the Tigers Anthony Salsedo, Gray, Woolwine
and Veihl all had multi-hit games.
The teams will take the field again tomorrow for a pair on
George “Sparky” Anderson Field in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
with first pitch of game one slated for 11:00 a.m.
