Junior Garrett Levine (Columbus, Ohio / Columbus Academy) continued his hot-hitting ways and extended his hitting streak to 11 games in Caltech’s weekend series with No. 16 California Lutheran University. Levine, who struggled out of the gate this season, now has his season average up to .256 after connecting on five hits in 11 at-bats […]
Junior Garrett Levine (Columbus, Ohio / Columbus Academy) continued his hot-hitting ways and extended his hitting streak to 11 games in Caltech’s weekend series with No. 16 California Lutheran University.
Levine, who struggled out of the gate this season, now has his season average up to .256 after connecting on five hits in 11 at-bats this weekend. He also collected two doubles and knocked in one run in the first game of Saturday’s double-header.
Friday: Caltech 1, Cal Lutheran 13
The Beavers took a pitcher-by-committee approach in the first game of the series to keep main starting pitchers Jonah Krop (Santa Monica, Calif. / Santa Monica) and Kai Kirk (San Jose, Calif. / Wesleyan Univ.) fresh for Saturday’s doubleheader. Senior Tim Menninger (Norristown, Pa. / Chestnut Hill Academy) took the hill for his second start of the season and held the 16th-ranked team in the nation scoreless through the first inning. He also struck out four batters in just over three innings of work. Junior David Watson (Windsor, Colo. / Windsor) knocked in Caltech’s lone run of the game, plating Levine in the fourth inning.
Saturday Game 2: Caltech 5, Cal Lutheran 12
Caltech’s bats came alive in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader in one of the hottest games played on the new and improved North Field this season. The Beavers registered a series-high 13 hits in this game and had their most success in the fourth inning when Kirk, Levine and sophomores Mark Burleson (Ladera Ranch, Calif. / Tesoro) and Connor Moffatt (Charleston, W.Va. / George Washington) started off the inning with base hits as two runs crossed home plate. Watson then stepped in and knocked in freshman Cortland Perry (New York, N.Y. / The Dalton School) to complete the three-run fourth. The Beavers then set out to create another run in the ninth inning in spite of a close to insurmountable deficit facing them and came away with two runs. Tim Menninger pinch hit for Moffatt in the sixth inning and remained at second base for the rest of the game, going two-for-two in his two opportunities at the plate. One of the hits came as part of the Beavers’ two-run ninth inning. Senior John Galden (Columbus, Ohio / St. Charles Prep), meanwhile relieved Jonah Krop on the mound and held the hard-hitting Kingsmen to just three runs over the game’s final four innings.
Saturday Game 2: Caltech 0, Cal Lutheran 8
While the Caltech offense did not meet the standards set by the first two games of the Cal Lutheran series, Kai Kirk had his moments as the Beavers’ Game 3 starting pitcher. He held the Kingsmen to four runs between the first and fifth innings and gave the Beavers a chance to take charge in the early going. He went on to pitch the entire game and struck out four batters over nine innings. Quick, clean innings early on proved to be the key to Kirk’s success. Burleson, along with senior Harrison Jacobs (Tucson, Ariz. / Catalina Foothills) and freshman Alex Corado (San Diego, Calif. / Scripps Ranch) doubled over the course of the game’s nine innings. Burleson, who now sits at eight doubles on the season will look to tie or break his own program record of 10 doubles in next weekend’s series.
Head Coach Matthew Mark and the Beavers will finish up 2017 with a three-game homestand against St. Katherine College, in which the team’s seven seniors will be recognized for their efforts.
