REDLANDS — Scott Hong (Los Angeles) crushed his 10^th extra base hit — in nine games this season  — well over the left-centerfield wall in the third inning, then Pedro Aldape (Sherman Oaks) drove in Anthony Salsedo (Tracy) and Brent Wunner (Temple City) to give Oxy a 5-3 lead in the fifth, and the Occidental College baseball team hung on to beat Redlands for the first time since 2010, 9-6 at the Yard on Friday.

It is just the second time the Tigers (6-3, 1-0 SCIAC) have beaten the Bulldogs (3-3, 0-1 SCIAC) in their last 14 tries and the second time Oxy's begun SCIAC play with a win in the past five seasons.

"Our guys are starting to believe that we can play with anybody," said Occidental head coach Luke Wetmore, who was making his first trip back to Redlands, his alma mater, as the head coach of the Tigers. "There was never a doubt and (Redlands) was putting on a run, taking good swings and hitting the ball well. But we never felt like the game would get out of control. It's a testament to (our guys) believing in themselves and each other."

The last time the Tigers (6-3) beat Redlands on April 18, 2010, Wetmore was an assistant for Oxy going up against his little brother William Wetmore, who was the hero for Redlands that day with a home run and three RBIs, albeit in a 6-3 loss.

This time it was Wetmore, returning to a school where he was an All-SCIAC football and baseball player as a student-athlete, as a first-year head coach with a Tigers team that found a way to fend off the Bulldogs without playing its prettiest baseball.

"It's kind of bitter sweet in a way. I didn't think we played great, we played well enough to win and they gave us some extra things," Wetmore said, referring to a pair of errors made by the Bulldgos, one in the fifth the other in the sixth, that kept Oxy's two game-changing innings alive. "The score doesn't tell the whole story."

Still a victory at the old stomping grounds is one the 28-year-old skipper won't give back.

"To be perfectly honest it's a great feeling," Wetmore said. "The guys flipped me a game ball and they were happy for me. That means a lot."

From the fourth through the sixth inning, Oxy scored six unanswered runs before Redlands cut a four-run lead, 7-3, down to one, 7-6, in the bottom of the seventh.

But Jonathan Wong (Grizzly Flats) tripled to center, then Aldape drove in Salsedo for the second time, on a single down the right-field line. Then Oxy's Alec Strain (Sacramento) and Hong combined for 2.1 scoreless inning to close out the game. Hong earned the save.

Tigers ace Tyler Eyrich (Stevenson Ranch) improved to 3-0, going six innings with four strikouts.

"The pitching we thought was going to be our weak point and it's been surprising how well they've done so far," Wetmore said. Oxy's staff has just a 3.39 earned run average this season.

Aldape, the Tigers cleanup hitter, improved his team-best batting average, among hitters with 20 or more at bats, to .438.

Oxy All-West Region shortstop Logan Allen (Atascadero) struggled from the plate, going just 1 for 5, but made three game-saving plays in the field, including an impressive grab going back on a flare into shallow left with no outs in the ninth.

The series continues tomorrow at Anderson Field on the Occidental College campus. First pitch for the first game is scheduled for 11 a.m.