REDLANDS, Calif. - Rider Gordon hit a three-run homer to put CMS ahead to stay, and Bryce Didrickson was 3-for-3 with a homer and four runs scored, as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps baseball team defeated Whittier 8-5 on Friday in the first of a three-game series at The Yard on the campus of the University of Redlands. 

With the win, CMS moves to 19-6 overall on the season and 9-4 in the SCIAC, while Whittier slides to 9-18 overall and 2-12 in league play. 

Whittier took a 2-1 lead in the top of the third, but Gordon hit a three-run homer to put CMS ahead 4-2 in the bottom half. Didrickson led off with a walk, Alex Henderson was hit by a pitch, and Gordon followed with a three-run blast. 

CMS extended its lead to 6-2 in the fifth on an RBI double from Carter Bennett, and an RBI single from Max Pemberton. Didrickson's solo homer in the sixth made the score 7-2, and Gordon picked up his fourth RBI of the game with an RBI double in the eighth to plate Didrickson. 

Whittier punched one run a cross in the ninth, but Jacob Young was able to get the final two outs with two runners on to preserve the 8-5 win.

Kody Perry went five innings to get the win, and Parker McGraw threw three innings of relief before giving way to Young in the ninth. 

CMS and Whititer will complete their three-game series tomorrow at Whittier for an 11 a.m. doubleheader.