Barber Wins on Best Day; CLU Sweeps

THOUSAND OAKS — Just another Saturday in the park for Cal Lutheran pitcher Andrew Barber and the Kingsmen baseball team.

After the Kingsmen won, 4-3, in the first game of a nonconference doubleheader against UC San Diego, Barber, who entered the day with a 3-0 record on Saturdays, held the Tritons to two hits, struck out 11 and walked none through 6 2/3 innings of the second game as the Kingsmen completed the sweep with an 8-2 victory at Cal Lutheran.

Barber’s performance extends his school-record scoreless innings streak to 27 2/3 innings, and gives the Kingsmen (17-4-1) an 11-0-1 record on Saturdays.

The losses dropped San Diego’s record to 5-11.

Barber (4-1) has allowed only three hits in his last three starts, including a no-hitter against Whittier on March 2.

“My goal is to throw a lot of first-pitch strikes,” said Barber, who found the strike zone on the first pitch on 17 of the 22 batters he faced. “When you get ahead you have a lot more to work with.”

The Kingsmen broke through with two runs in the third inning when Matt Young laced a two-out single up the middle, scoring Jamal Nichols and Rich Holmes.

In the fourth inning, the Kingsmen sent 12 men to the plate, scoring six times to take an 8-0 lead.

Matt Moore had two of the four hits in the inning and Young, who had two hits and knocked in three runs, added a run-scoring single.

The highlight of the first game was Moore’s steal of home in the sixth inning, which broke a 2-2 tie.

The Kingsmen scored the game-winner in the eighth on Sean Young’s two-out single that scored Rich Holmes from third.

Rich Bell (5-0) allowed two runs on five hits and struck out seven. Erik Kiszczak pitched the ninth for his second save.