Westmont baseball was back in action at Russ Carr Field as the Warriors hosted an opening day doubleheader on Saturday against Pomona-Pitzer. Pomona-Pitzer took the first game 5-3, but the Warriors obtained their revenge in the second game and won 10-6.
Kevin Fouret took the loss for the Warriors in game one despite a solid pitching performance in which he allowed only one earned run in five innings. Fouret allowed seven hits while striking out four and walking two.
The Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer opened the scoring in the second inning when center fielder Zachery Mandelblatt singled through the right side with Ben Ginsberg at third base.
In the bottom half of the second, sophomore first baseman Gaustad, who was three-for-four in the game, led off with a single to left field. Sophomore shortstop Phillip Valle then came to bat and reached on a fielder's choice hit to third. Next, junior designated hitter Hector Chavez walked, advancing Valle to second base. Warrior right fielder Darren Fouret stepped to the plate and Westmont head coach Rob Crawford called for a double steal which was executed successfully by Valle and Chavez. Fouret popped up to short to record the second out which brought left fielder Jon White to the dish.
White reached first on a hard chopping grounder to short while Valle scored and Chavez advanced to third. White then stole second base before center fielder Vinny Lopez walk to load the bases with two away. But Sagehen pitcher Kevin Cook enticed freshman second baseman Nate Shaver to fly out to center field to end the inning and the Warrior threat.
Pomona-Pitzer picked up two unearned runs in the fourth inning to take a 3-1 advantage and then added two more in the seventh to stretch the score to 5-1.
Westmont rallied in the bottom of the ninth and appeared poised for a comeback. Gaustad led off the inning with a double to right center field and Valle followed with a single, advancing Gaustad to third base. Chavez picked up his bat and delivered a single to right center, scoring Gaustad and advancing Valle to third.
Fouret then came up to bat representing the tying run with runners at the corners and nobody out. Fouret nearly dropped the ball into left field for a single, but Sagehen left fielder Ben Shanker charged the ball, bobbling it before making the catch. Valle scored from third on the play, but Fouret and Chavez both found themselves on first base, uncertain whether the catch had been made by Shanker. Concluding the catch had not been made, Chavez took off for second and was tagged out. The result was one run scored, two outs recorded, the bases empty and the rally over.
In the second game, a seven-inning affair, the Warriors scored in each frame except the sixth. Lopez led off the first inning with a walk and reached second when Fouret grounded out to second. Lopez stole third during an at bat by senior third baseman Jordan Ballard. Ballard then drove the ball off the left field fence for a double which scored Lopez.
The Sagehens scored in the top of the second to tie the score, but Westmont pushed two more runs across the plate in the bottom half of the inning to take a 3-1 advantage. Valle led off the inning with a double to left center and reached third when Chavez singled to right. After freshman left fielder David Stout popped up to the pitcher, Chavez advanced to second on a wild pitch. Second baseman Steven Hardest then walked to load the bases with one away. Lopez singled to left to score Valle and leave the bases loaded for Fouret who knocked the ball into center to score Chavez on a sacrifice fly.
Westmont scored two more in the bottom of the third off a triple by Chavez which scored Gaustad who had reached base on a walk. Chavez later scored on a wild pitch.
The Warriors gave up two runs in the top of the fourth, but took them right back in the bottom half of the inning. Fouret walked to lead off the inning and was advanced to second when Ballard was hit by a pitch. Senior catcher Dominick Paluso was also issued a free pass and the basses were loaded with no one out. Gaustad picked up an RBI on a single which kept the bases loaded. Valle lined out to short to record the first out. Chavez then picked up his second RBI of the game and third of the day by watching four balls fail to make the strike zone. The Warriors fourth inning threat came to an end when Andy Dude pinch hit into a double play.
Westmont gave up another run in the top of the fifth making the score 7-4 as the Warriors came up to bat. With two outs, Fouret reached on a base hit to center field. Fouret stole second and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. A walk by Ballard gave the Warriors runners at the corners until Ballard stole second with Paluso at bat. Paluso then stroked his twenty-fifth career home run over the left field fence to put the Warriors up 10-4.
The Sagehens added one run in the sixth inning and one in the seventh, but it was not enough to keep the Warriors from notching their first victory of the season. Starting pitcher Jonathan White went five innings to pick up the win in which he struck out five without allowing a walk. Jake Stretz struck out three in the final two innings while giving up one earned run.
Collectively on the day, Warrior pitchers struck out 13 batters while issuing only two walks.
Westmont will travel to Turlock this weekend to play a single game on Friday and two on Saturday against Cal State Stanislaus. On Tuesday, February 7, the Warriors will travel across town to face the Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara.
