Freshman center fielder Taylor Maddox went six for ten at the plate and received an intentional walk as Westmont Baseball (7-14) won both games of a doubleheader against the Tigers of Occidental (8-13). After winning the first game 11-4, Westmont scored two runs in the bottom half of the ninth inning and another in the eleventh to pick up the 5-4 victory.
Freshman right-hander Keith Johnson picked up his first collegiate win in the first game, pitching three and one-third innings in relief while allowing one run on three hits. Johnson struck out three and walked one.
"(John) Evans started and pitched four and two-thirds innings," reported Westmont assistant coach Mel Gemberling. "It's too bad he had to come out, we would have liked him to get the win. But Johnson came in, put out the fire and took us into the ninth. "(Matt) Moore, The Terminator, came in a closed it out for us. Those were his first innings pitched in college and he did a good job – he hung up a zero."
Evans allowed three runs on four hits in four and two-thirds innings. He also struck out three while allowing only one walk. Moore allowed just on hit in the ninth inning, walked one and struck out one.
"We hit well and had 12 hits in the first game," said Gemberling. "Bottenfield was three for four. Martinez got a couple of key RBIs as did Boujikian and Christianson."
Westmont scored one in the first and four in the third to jump out to a 5-0 lead in the opener. Maddox led off the first inning with a double to center field and took third base when senior second baseman Anthony Martinez ground out to second. Senior designated hitter Cody Chapman also ground out to second, allowing Maddox to score.
In the third inning, freshman right fielder Brent Meschuk led off and reached on a throwing error by Occidental pitcher Matt Jones. Maddox moved Meschuk to second on a single through the right side and Martinez loaded the bases on a bunt single. With one away, junior second baseman Mark Boujikian knocked a two RBI-single up the middle to score Meschuk and Maddox. A sacrifice fly by freshman first baseman Colten Christianson allowed Martinez to score from third.
Boujikian reached second base with two away on an RBI single through the right side by freshman third baseman Jordan Bottenfield. With freshman catcher Kyle Noe at the plate, Jones unleashed a wild pitch. Occidental catcher Adam Franks tried to throw out Boujikian at third, but the throw went into the dirt then skidded down the left field line as Boujikian dashed for home and scored the fourth run of the inning.
The Tigers narrowed the margin in the fifth inning by scoring three runs with two away. A two-RBI double to right field by left fielder Glenn Gray was followed by an RBI double to left center by Franks. That chased Evans from the game and brought in Johnson who picked up the third out on the first batter he faced.
Senior Erik Gaustad took over as the designated hitter in the bottom of the fifth inning and produced a one-out single to right center. With two away, Christianson delivered an RBI-double to left center. Bottenfield singled to deep short, and Christianson scored on a throwing error by the shortstop. However, Bottenfield was thrown out attempting to take second on the play, bring the inning to a close with the score 7-3.
Occidental scored one run in the top of the sixth to move to with in three runs (7-4), but the Warriors blew the game open in the bottom of the eighth, taking advantage of two Tiger errors. Christianson led off and reached on an error by the first baseman. He then took second on a single by Bottenfield to center field. Noe reached on an error by the third baseman and the sacks were loaded with Warriors with nobody out.
Junior left fielder Derek Fugitt singled to right to score Christianson and keep the bases loaded. Bottenfield scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Meschuk. Noe and Fugitt moved up a base when Maddox grounded out to short. Martinez then connected for a two-RBI single to right, allowing Noe and Fugitt to score and giving Westmont an 11-4 advantage.
Moore took the hill for the Warriors in the top of the ninth and retired the side without allowing a run.
Senior left-hander Brandon downs took over the duties on the mound for the Warriors to start the second game. He pitched five innings without allowing a run. He gave up five hits, struck out four and walked two.
"Downs came in and pitched five innings and gave up nothing," said Gemberling. "We're really proud of him in his first start of the year. (Chris) Plance came in and was victimized with some shoddy fielding. White put out the fire in the sixth inning and Max Gutierrez came in and shut them down for the ninth, tenth and eleventh. That was his first win of the year.
Plance faced five batters, allowing three runs, two of which were earned, on three hits. He had one strike out in one-third inning of work. White pitched three innings, allowing one run on one hit. He struck out two and walked two. Gutierrez pitched two and two-third innings, allowing only one hit without giving up a run. He struck out one and walked two.
Westmont jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Maddox reached on a single to lead off the inning. Martinez hit a grounder to third, but the Tiger's third baseman's throw went awry, allowing Maddox to reach second base. A single to left field by Boujikian pushed Maddox across the plate and moved Martinez to third base. Martinez then scored on a sacrifice fly to left by Christianson.
The scored remained 2-0 until the top of the sixth inning when the Tigers scored three runs on four hits and an error. Occidental would have scored more except Martinez threw out the Tiger's Matt Anderson at home as he tried to score on a single by Daniel Kelley. Anderson's out was the third of the inning and result in his ejection from the game for bowling over Noe.
The Tigers added another run in the top of the ninth inning on a walk, stolen base, wild pitch and passed ball, putting Westmont into the bottom of the ninth with a two-run deficit. Starter Ross Pomerantz had pitched well for Occidental, allowing two runs, one of which was earned, on six hits in eight innings.
"We had all sorts of chances in the second game," said Gemberling, "but left 12 runs on the bases. It took us 11 innings to cash in on it. We only left four on the bases in the first game."
Occidental head coach Elliott Strankman brought in Kieran Doherty as a closer to finish up the game, but it didn't turn out as he had hoped.
Gaustad led off the inning with a single up the middle and then reached second on an error by the Tiger's shortstop during an at bat by junior right fielder Taylor Grace. A ground ball to the pitcher by Bottenfield resulted in Gaustad's retirement at third, but left the Warriors with men at first and second with one away. That's when the pinch hitting began.
"We try to send up the right pinch hitters at the right time," said Gemberling. "They had a submarine pitcher but he didn't fool our guys at all. They just racked him. The guys bore down, went up to the plate, and concentrated, giving us some key hits to tie it up in the bottom of the ninth. The guys hung in there and clawed their way back. I'm sure proud of them."
Senior Cody Chapman was called in to pinch hit for Noe and delivered an RBI-single to center field, allowing Grace to score and moving Bottenfield to second base. Junior David Stout was asked to pinch hit for freshman left fielder Terrell Wong. Stout grounded to first and the Tigers tried to end the game on a double play. Chapman was thrown out at second but Stout reached first safely as Bottenfield moved to third. That brought up the top of the order.
Maddox produced his sixth hit of the day to score Bottenfield and tie the game at four runs each. With men at first and second with two outs, Martinez nearly won the game for the Warriors in regulation. He singled to centerfield, sending Stout past third base and on his way home. But Occidental's Spencer Woolwine threw out Stout at the plate, sending the game into extra innings.
Gutierrez allowed only one base runner in extra innings (a walk to Jason Jebbia) to keep the Warriors in the game. Noe led off the bottom of the eleventh inning with a single through the left side of the infield. Meschuk laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Noe to second base. Maddox came to the plate and was intentionally walked to give Westmont runners at first and second with one away. Martinez was then hit by a pitch to load the bases.
That brought out Strankman from the dugout to make a pitching change, replacing Doherty with John Clair. Martinez stepped to the plate and smacked Clair's fourth pitch into right field for a game-winning RBI single.
Westmont has a full schedule next week, playing at UC Santa Barbara at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday before hosting Biola on Thursday at 2:30. On Saturday, the Warriors will host Concordia in a doubleheader beginning at 11:00 a.m.
