THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Capitalizing on some uncharacteristically shaky Linfield defense, Cal Lutheran notched a 13-9 victory against the Wildcats in their final game of a Spring Break trip Monday afternoon at Ullman Stadium.
 
The Kingsmen (15-6) opened up a 12-5 lead after three innings, a scoring gap that proved too large to overcome for Linfield.  The Wildcats committed six errors and yielded plenty of baserunners on nine hits, eight walks and two hit batters.
 
Brady Rediger and Scott Hilpert belted home runs as two of four Wildcats to register multiple-hit afternoons.
 
Things started out well enough for Linfield as Ben Andrews scored two runners on a double to left-center and Ryan Pladson pushed the advantage to 3-0 on another RBI base hit. But Cal Lutheran generated an immediate response on Weinstein's leadoff home run and pulled within one on a bases-loaded hit batter. A two-out RBI single, compounded with a fielding error, allowed the Kingsmen to take the lead, and the hosts scored twice more before Linfield finally got out of the inning, trailing 6-3.  
 
Rediger pulled the 'Cats within one with a two-run homer, but CLU reliever Rebello took the mound and registered three straight outs to preserve the slim advantage.
 
Cal Lutheran did more damage in the second, scoring four times on zero hits. The hosts benefitted from two drawn walks, a hit batter, two errors and Saito's sacrifice fly to make it a 10-5 game. The Kingsmen scored twice in the third and once in the seventh, but more importantly limited the Wildcats to four runs over the final six innings to maintain the lead.
 
Back-to-back singles, a walk and error helped Linfield yield a run in the fourth, and Hilpert sent a ball over the fence in the sixth. Ryan Pladson shot a double to right center in the ninth, plating two runs, to cap off the scoring for both teams.
 
NEXT: Linfield resumes Northwest Conference action Saturday with a three-game set against Pacific. First pitch of a doubleheader is scheduled for noon in Forest Grove.