Dan Cabuling pitched seven scoreless innings and Coby Cress punched a home run to right center field as Westmont Baseball (4-1) defeated the Hustlin' Owls of Oregon Tech by a score of 1-0 on Friday afternoon at Russ Carr Field. Cabuling allowed just one hit, struck out five and walked five.
"Dan did a great job," said Westmont head coach Robert Ruiz. "He was executing pitches in the right count when he needed to and he gave us a chance defensively. I was really pleased with his outing. He carried our team through seven innings."
Mitch Crocker pitched the eight inning, giving up two hits while striking out one. Jacob Regalado was awarded the save after pitching the ninth inning in which he gave up one hit and walked two.
The Warriors last won a 1-0 game on March 27, 1999 which Robby McConchie pitched a seven-inning, complete game shutout against Point Loma Nazarene. The last 1-0 nine-inning victory came on April 20, 1996 against Vanguard University (then Southern California College). Steve Kurz pitched seven and one-half innings in the home game and Steve Bajari closed out the final inning and two-thirds.
Westmont had several scoring opportunities during the game, but Cress' home run with one out in the fourth inning proved to be enough for the Warrior win.
"I wasn't seeing the ball particularly well today," said Cress, "but I got a good pitch."
In each of the first three innings, the Warriors advanced a man to third with just one away but couldn't bring him across the plate.
Brent Fukushima led off the bottom of the first with a single to center field and advanced to second on a passed ball. A ground ball by J.J. Turbin put Fukushima on third with one away. However, a ground out by Jordan Bottenfield and a fly out by Tim Leary kept the freshman shortstop from scoring.
In the second inning, Cress led off with a single and reached second when Colten Christianson grounded out. Mitch Petrack then singled on a sharply hit ball to second base which moved Cress to third. Chris Ramirez, however, ground into a double play to end the inning.
In the bottom of the third, Jarratt Rouse was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Steven Motush, serving as a courtesy runner for Rouse, reached second on a wild pitch and took third on a sacrifice bunt by Fukushima. Turbin hit the ball sharply to short, but it was nabbed by Oregon Tech's Zack Earle just before it hit the ground. Bottenfield then grounded out to the pitcher.
Oregon Tech's best scoring opportunities came in the eighth and ninth innings. In the eighth inning, Trent Smith reached on a one-out single through the left side. Colin Stock followed with a single to left center, advancing Smith to second. During Ryan Hayden's subsequent at bat, Rouse tried to pick off Smith at second, but the Westmont catcher's throw went awry and headed into center field. Smith broke for third, but Turbin, backing up the play in centerfield, picked up the ball and fired to third where Ramirez scooped it up and applied the tag for the out. Hayden then flied out to center field.
"It was a heads-up play by J.J.," said Ruiz. "I'm really pleased with Chris. It's a tough play for him to catch that ball on a short hop and hang onto it with a guy sliding into him. It was a heads-up play on both their parts."
In the top of the ninth inning, lead-off batter Earle was issued a free pass to first and then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Hayden Wolf. After a walk to Kyle Conner, pinch hitter Dylan Rogers stepped to the plate. Rogers sent the ball back up the middle. Regalado got a glove on the ball and it was scooped up by Fukushima at short. Fukushima stepped on second to retire Connor and threw to first to complete the double play and give the Warriors the win.
"We showed how good of a team we are defensively, today," said Cress. "That is how we have been in practice. This team is solid all the way around the diamond."
"It's great seeing the way our guys are responding in different situations," said Ruiz. "Hanging on to a 1-0 ballgame says a lot about the character of a team. We have a long way to go, but there is a lot of fight in these guys. If they continue to harness that and be students of the game and use that in the right way, I think it can continue to carry us and take us where we want to go."
Westmont's 4-1 start is the best by the Warriors since the 2001 season.
The Warriors and Hustlin' Owls return to Russ Carr Field tomorrow for a doubleheader beginning at 11:00 a.m.
