The California Lutheran University baseball team clinched the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title for the fourth consecutive year. The Kingsmen clinched the title on May 2 after their last game of the Round Robin Conference Tournament concluded. The 4-year seniors for the Kingsmen have played an integral role in each conference title. This is the 12th SCIAC Conference title Cal Lutheran has acquired since 1992.
Cal Lutheran was set to play the Redlands Bulldogs on April 30, but were forced to postpone the game to May 2 because of unexpected rain fall. The Kingsmen were able to get a win after an exciting back and forth game against the Bulldogs.
The 6-5 win did not come easy to the Kingsmen as the Bulldogs fought back the entire game, scoring every other inning respectively. Senior third baseman Davey Casciola hit a 2-run home run to put the Kingsmen on the board in the third inning. Cal Lutheran was able to string together hits in the later innings to push past Redlands and defend their title. Junior catcher Eddie Villegas was 4-for-5 on the day, Casciola had three hits out of his four plate appearances and senior outfielder Ramsey Abushahla finished with two hits on the day.
This year the Kingsmen share the title with the No. 12 Occidental College Tigers as co-champions after finishing with the same conference record, 22-6. Although the Kingsmen and Tigers share the title, Occidental will host the SCIAC Postseason Tournament after winning the tie-breaker. However, the Kingsmen are set to play the Chapman University Panthers May 6 at 3 p.m. at home on Sparky Anderson Field in the first game of the SCIAC Postseason Tournament.
Courtney Sooy
Senior Sports Writer
