Fast Start Nets CLU Blowout Win, 23-2 : College baseball: Kingsmen score five in the first and dominate Redlands to take lead in regional playoff series.

Cal Lutheran’s players circled the bases at a dizzying pace Friday.

And when the Kingsmen finally stopped, they owned a 23-2 blowout victory over Redlands at Moorpark College and a 1-0 lead in their best-of-five West Regional series of the Division III baseball playoffs.

“We know what we can do but we didn’t think it could get that ugly,” Kingsmen first baseman Eric Johnson said. “Things fell into place. It was pretty wild.”

Said center fielder Carlos Cardenas: “It was one of those days, I guess.”

The teams play a doubleheader today at Moorpark starting at noon. Redlands pitcher Scott Sasser (6-3, 4.69 earned-run average) opposes Jeff Berman (8-2-1, 1.66) of Cal Lutheran in Game 2. Doug Broughton (2-1, 10.05 ERA in 14 1/3 innings), usually a reliever, gets the nod for Redlands in Game 3 against Pat Norville (7-1, 3.10).

A Cal Lutheran sweep today sends the Kingsmen to the Division III World Series for the second consecutive season. If necessary, one or two more games will be played Sunday, beginning at noon.

“This was just one game,” Redlands Coach Ken Miller said, dismissing the drubbing. “We start (today) at zero-zero.”

Cal Lutheran’s domination was swift, complete and painful to view. The Kingsmen (30-7)--ranked first in the final regular-season Division III poll--scored five times in the first and scored at least one run in every inning except the fifth.

Cal Lutheran batted around in the first, third and seventh innings and sent 10 batters to an abused home plate in the third. The Kingsmen outhit their overmatched opponents, 23-6, slammed three home runs and totaled eight hits for extra bases compared with two for Redlands.

Leading the attack were Cardenas and Johnson.

Cardenas, Cal Lutheran’s leadoff hitter, reached base in each of his six at-bats before being removed after the seventh inning. He had two hits in three official at-bats and scored three runs.

Johnson--player of the year in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference--went two for four with a team-high five runs batted in. He hit a three-run homer (his fifth) in the seventh.

As the game wore on, it was easy to forget the Bulldogs (20-17) led at one point--although ever-so-briefly.

They took a 1-0 lead in the first when Wil Walker doubled and scored on a wild pitch by Cal Lutheran starter Mike Winslow (8-0). Redlands scored its final run in the third without a hit, Clint Studebaker coming home when Cal Lutheran left fielder Pete Martin misjudged a high fly hit by Marc DiCarlo.

Redlands starter Vennie Henderson (6-4) had problems finding the plate throughout his draining two-inning stint, giving up eight runs, six of them earned. His relief pitchers fared no better, throwing gasoline on the already raging fire he left.

Bulldog pitchers gave up 11 walks and threw four wild pitches. Conceding the game at 15-2 in the sixth, Miller summoned someone named James Morgans--who is not even listed on the team roster--to finish the game. Miller admitted Morgans has seen “occasional mop-up duty” and not much else.

Morgans gave up the final eight runs.