samsphotoservices.com

THOUSAND OAKS — The Occidental baseball team fell in Game 1 of a pivotal three-game series against Cal Lutheran this weekend, 6-0 on Friday.

Nolan McCarthy, Oxy's junior ace and the SCIAC's leader in ERA, had a rare bumpy outing, giving up five earned runs in six innings of work. He had surrendered just six earned runs in all of his previous SCIAC starts combined.

Justin Fong was outstanding on the hill for the Kingsmen, giving up just two hits, two walks and no runs in the complete game effort. 

Jack Brancheau and Jake Fredrickson recorded Oxy's only hits. 

Season Impact: Oxy falls to 23-12 overall and 11-8 in SCIAC. The Tigers have a two-game lead on Claremont-Mudd-Scripps for fourth place in the standings and are two games back of the Kingsmen for third. 

Cal Lutheran improves to 24-11 and 13-6 in SCIAC.

Next Game: Oxy and Cal Lutheran play Games 2 and 3 of their series at Oxy tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m.