The California Lutheran University baseball team hoisted the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship trophy for the fifth consecutive season after winning their last regular season series against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on senior day.

“We did what we needed to do and we got better and better as the season went on to where now we are SCIAC champions. It all paid off, all that hard work in the beginning paid off,” Head Coach Marty Slimak said.

The first matchup of the series took place at CMS as the Kingsmen battled back and forth but fell short 5-4 at the end.

CMS scored a lone run in the first inning, but Cal Lutheran junior second baseman Max Weinstein hit a homerun and got two RBIs as senior catcher Trey Saito scored.

Senior right fielder Gabe Gunter continued to bring Cal Lutheran ahead on a double and an RBI, sending senior left fielder Sinjin Todd home to take the lead 3-1 at the top of the third inning.

CMS evened the score in the bottom of the third inning by scoring two runs.

In the top of the sixth, Saito had a single to center field leading to an RBI with sophomore designated hitter Cheynne Giles advancing to second base, and senior center fielder Brad Fullerton giving the Violet and Gold the 4-3 lead.

That would be the end of the runs for Cal Lutheran as CMS tied the score in the bottom of the seventh inning, and won the game April 28 with a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth, giving them a 5-4 win.

The second game was dominated at home April 29 as the Kingsmen won 5-0. Saito had a single to right field causing an RBI that led Giles to advance to third and sophomore first baseman Weston Clark to secure the first run.

Senior shortstop Austin Kay singled to the left side for an RBI with Saito advancing to second base and Giles scoring to make the score 2-0 Cal Lutheran in the bottom of the fourth inning.

The demolition was conducted in large part by a strong pitching performance by senior Marshall Pautsch.

“I thought our pitching was phenomenal. Marshall Pautsch was lights out in that first game today,” Slimak said.

This was only the beginning as Giles hit a triple down the right field line and scored on an error by the second baseman, giving him the RBI and Fullerton the run to take a 4-0 lead.

To cap it off, Todd stole second and Weinstein scored on an error by the catcher in the bottom of the sixth to take the win 5-0 going into the final game.

“It was one of those days where everything came together. The defense played great behind me, my catcher Trey Saito was unreal and I owe it to all of them, it’s not a single performance at all,” Pautsch said.

In the series-clinching game, Cal Lutheran stepped it up early by scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Senior designated hitter Jimmy Jauregui hit a double to right field leading to an RBI and a run by Weinstein.

“Scott Roberts, the freshman, gave us seven strong innings and kept us in the game. At the plate obviously Max Weinstein did a great job and we scored when we needed to, played some really good defense today and we were fortunate to win,” Slimak said.

Freshman third baseman Ryne Yamashiro assisted his upperclassmen teammate with a single to first and an RBI to send Jauregui home for a 2-0 start.

CMS did not score a run until the top of the fifth inning and scored one more time in the sixth, but that would be its last.

The bottom of the sixth added two more runs for the Violet and Gold as Giles reached first on an error by the shortstop and advanced to second base, as Yamashiro reached third and ultimately scored on an error by the shortstop.

Weinstein flied out to right field for a sac fly and RBI creating the opportunity for sophomore pinch runner Anthony Sidley to make it to third, and Giles to score another run to further the score to 4-2 to conclude the sixth inning.

Gunter hit a triple off the back wall in the bottom of the seventh and Jauregui flied out to right field for the sac fly and RBI to bring Gunter home for the 5-2 victory over CMS.

“It is kind of surreal playing our last regular season home game, it’s a special place and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. I wanted to make it special trying to do something big on the way out. We wanted to continue the tradition of winning here and that’s what playing for Cal Lu is all about,” Gunter said.

Cal Lutheran (28-10, 18-6 SCIAC) will be playing at home in the SCIAC playoffs starting Friday, May 5.

Matthew Weisman
Staff Writer