An eighth-inning, 425 feet, pinch-hit, two-RBI double by senior Erik Gaustad and eight innings of solid pitching by junior Kellen Skersies led Westmont baseball to a 10-7 victory over the Cardinals of Wesleyan (Conn.) on Tuesday afternoon at Russ Carr Field.
The Warriors (4-12), who were tied 6-6 with the Cardinals (1-3) going into the bottom of the eighth, picked up four runs in the inning. Junior left fielder Derek Fugitt (2 for 4, 2 RBIs, 1 run) laid down a perfectly executed, one-out bunt single to get things started for the Warriors. Senior shortstop Anthony Martinez (1 for 3, 2 runs, 1 RBI) followed with another single which moved Fugitt to second base.
That is when Head Coach Scott Deck decided to send Gaustad to the plate. Gaustad's towering shot would have cleared the fence in almost any major league ballpark, but at Russ Carr Field, it was only enough to put the Warriors up 8-6. Following the blast, freshman third baseman Jordan Bottenfield, whose turn at bat Gaustad had taken, re-entered the game, taking Gaustad's place at second base.
Senior designated hitter Philip Valle then stepped to the plate and produced a double down the left field line to score Bottenfield and add to the Warriors' cushion. Junior second baseman Mark Boujikian drove in the final run of the eighth inning on a single to right field. Boujikian went three for five in the game with one RBI and two runs scored.
Skersies pitched eight innings for the Warriors giving up six runs, only two of which were earned. He retired the side in order in the first, fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth inning and would have done so in the third if not for an error. Skersies struck out seven Cardinals without issuing a walk.
The Warriors scored four unearned runs in the first inning to jump out to a 4-0 lead. After Martinez was walked to lead off the inning, Bottenfield reached on an error which moved Martinez to second. One out later, Boujikian hit the ball back to the Cardinals' pitcher (Eliezer Oberman) who wheeled around to throw the ball to second base. However no one was covering the bag and when shortstop Drew Dominguez finally arrived, Oberman one-hopped the ball to Dominguez and everyone was safe.
With the bases loaded and one away, freshman first baseman Colten Christianson hit the ball to second base, but it was mishandled by the Cardinals allowing Martinez and Bottenfield to score, Boujikian to take second and Christianson to arrive safely at first. That brought up freshman catcher Kyle Noe whose two-RBI double to left center brought home Boujikian and Christianson.
The Cardinal's tied the game on a pair of unearned runs in both the second and third innings, but Westmont went up 5-4 when freshman center fielder Terrell Wong scored in the bottom of the fourth. After leading off the inning by reaching on an error by the shortstop, Wong stole both second and third bases. One out later, a ground ball to short by Martinez allowed Wong to score.
The Cardinals answered back with two runs in the top of the fifth to take their only lead of the ball game. Back-to-back singles by center fielder Joe Giaimo and third baseman Brice Kelly set the stage for an RBI single by left fielder Chris Simpson and an RBI-ground out by designated hitter Graham Douds.
The Warriors tied the game in the bottom of the fifth when they produced back-to-back-to-back singles by Boujikian, Christianson and Charles Whitman (2 for 4) followed by a walk to Noe for his third RBI of the game. Scoreless sixth, seventh and top of the eighth innings led to the bottom of the eighth heroics and put Westmont in position to win the game by closing the door in the top of the ninth.
Senior left-hander Brandon Downs replaced Skersies on the bump, but found himself in a bit of trouble right away. A bloop single to center by second baseman Julian Sonnenfeld and an infield single by pinch hitter Garrett Lamborn were followed by a walk to Nick Gonsalves to load the bases with nobody out. Deck called in freshman right-hander Keith Johnson to take over on the mound and get the Warrior out of the jam.
Johnson notched the first out on a ground ball to second base by Dominguez which allowed Sonnenfeld to score. He then struck out Giaimo for the second out. The third out came off the bat of Kelly who hit the ball back to the mound. It bounced off Johnson and was fielded by Martinez who threw Kelly out at first to end the game.
The Warriors will play again tomorrow at Russ Carr Field when they will host the Eagles of Biola (13-7, 8-6) in a Golden State Athletic Conference game at 2:30 p.m.
