GLENDALE, Calif. (Feb. 4, 2023) – The Caltech baseball team opened up the 2023 season Saturday with a doubleheader against Providence Christian College Sea Beggars at Glendale Sports Complex.
 
The highly-anticipated kickoff saw lots of action and solid performances all around, giving a preview of what's to come for the Beavers in the long season ahead, with new talent joining an experienced group of upperclassmen.
 
Jack Fishel opened up the offense for Caltech in the first game, connecting for a one-out single and then running home on the next at-bat as Thorsen Kristufek belted an RBI double. Jack Warren made it three Beaver hits in a row as he singled to drive Kristufek to third base. Kristufek and Warren then capitalized on two passed balls by the opposing catcher, each scoring to take a 3-0 lead. Garret Knuf then singled and stole second before the Sea Beggars finally got out of the top of the first inning.
 
Providence replied with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second, but Caltech made it a two-run game again as Warren crushed a pitch for a solo home run in the top of the third inning. The Sea Beggars responded with a pair of runs again in the bottom of the fourth and, and despite Fishel's leadoff double in the top of the fifth, he and teammate Leo Jenkins were left stranded in scoring position.
 
Caltech took the lead once more in the top of the sixth, as Cameron McNamee drew a walk and then Will Dembski crushed a two-run homer to score them both and make it 6-4. Unfortunately those would be the last two runs for the Beavers in Game 1, and Providence caught fire for eight runs in the seventh, ultimately sealing the victory by a 12-6 margin.
 
Undeterred, Caltech put forth a similar starting lineup for the second game — scheduled for seven innings instead of nine — and Dembski came out swinging, quickly putting Caltech on the board with a solo homerun.
 
The next three runs belonged to the Sea Beggars, but Caltech responded with four to regain the lead. Dembski smacked his third hit of the day in the form of a one-out single, followed by another Fishel single and then a two-RBI double by Kristufek to tie the game in the bottom of the third inning.
 
Then in the bottom of the fourth, Garret Knuf hit a leadoff single and then made it to third on Gautam Chawla's double. Edward Speer loaded the bases after getting hit by a pitch, and then Dembski drew an RBI walk to score Knuf. With the bases still loaded, Fishel knocked in a run with an RBI single to score Chawla and make it a 5-3 lead for the Beavers.
 
Providence would chip away at their deficit and tie the game after scoring in the top of the sixth and seventh innings, to which Caltech had no answer, sending the game into an extra inning. Defensive shuffling moved Dembski to the pitcher's mound and he struck out the side in the top of the eighth. By rule, Knuf led off the bottom of the eighth as a baserunner at second, advancing to third on McNamee's ground out and then scoring the winning run on Speer's two-out, walk-off RBI single.
 
Dembski highlighted the two-game day with three runs on three hits including two homers and four runs batted in; he earned the pitching win with his three-strikeout, one-inning effort. Fishel, Knuf and Warren scored a couple runs each, and Kristufek stunned with three doubles among his four hits. Fishel connected for a team-high five base hits.
 
Caltech will host Baseball Opening Day at the North Field on Saturday, Feb. 11 against the Loggers of the University of Puget Sound.