Making up a for a rained out doubleheader on Saturday, Westmont Baseball (14-15-1, 7-9 GSAC) hosted San Diego Christian (12-18, 7-9 GSAC) on Tuesday afternoon at Russ Carr Field. The Warriors tallied 17 hits behind a fabulous pitching performance by Tim Leary to claim the first game 14-0. San Diego Christian posted three runs in the seventh inning of the seven-inning second game to claim an 8-7 win.
Leary (3-3) pitched the first seven innings of the opening game, allowing just three hits in the shutout. The senior struck out six without surrendering a walk.
"Coming off two rough games on Thursday and Friday where we felt like we beat ourselves on the mound, we tried to reset our focus and shift our mindset to getting first pitch strikes and staying ahead in the count," said Westmont head coach Robert Ruiz. "Tim did a phenomenal job of stepping in and filling that role. He has competed very consistently on the mound for us this year. The credit is all to him."
Leary threw first pitch strikes to the first eight batters and to 22 of the 24 batters he faced. In the fifth inning, Leary threw eight pitches to retire the side, all strikes. Of his 104 total pitches, 70 were for strikes.
The Warriors scored twice in the bottom of the first inning. Catcher Brandon Gildea led off the bottom of the first with a single up the middle and was replaced at first with courtesy runner Steven Motush. Motush reached second on a bunt single by David Pennington then advanced to third on a bunt single by J.J. Turbin. One out later, Coby Cress singled on a ball hit sharply to third, driving in Motush. David Gabel followed with a sacrifice fly to right field which allowed Pennington to score.
The score remained 2-0 until the bottom of the fourth when Westmont pushed five runs across home plate. Thomas Hocutt reached on a one-out single to center then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Brent Fukushima walked to put men on first and second with one away.
Gildea attempted a sacrifice bunt but Hocutt was thrown out at second base. Again, Motush replaced Gildea on the base pads. After Pennington walked to load the bases with two outs, Turbin pushed a bunt single past the pitcher toward second base, allowing Fukushima to score. Leary then singled trough the left side to drive in both Motush and Pennington.
With Will Barring at first as a courtesy runner for Leary, Coby Cress was walked to reload the bases. A single to center by David Gabel brought home both Turbin and Barring and forced Hawks' starter Garrison McLagan from the game.
Westmont added another run in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by Mitch Petrak to make it an 8-0 game. The seventh saw the Warriors score four more times. Turbin singled through the right side to drive in one run. Leary powered a three-run home run over the left field fence to make the score 12-0.
Gildea led off the eighth with a solo home run and the Warriors added another run on a sacrifice fly to left by Steven Motush.
Five Warriors had a multiple hit game including Turbin who was four for six with three runs scored and two batted in. Gildea was three for five with a run and an RBI, Leary was two for four with five RBIs and a run scored. Pennington was two for four and scored three times while Cress was two for three with an RBI.
In the second game, Westmont scored three times in the bottom of the first inning with Turbin driving in Motush on an RBI single and Leary hitting a two-run home run. The home run was Leary's second of the day, twelfth of the year and thirty-seventh of his Westmont career, tying him with Dominic Paluso for first place on the Warriors' career home run list.
"It's something worth noting with a guy comes into a four-year program and in two and one-half years ties a career record," said Ruiz. "We are proud of his offensive accomplishments. We feel like he has grown as a hitter and that he continues to get better. We are grateful for his accomplishments.
Leary is also that career RBI leader currently at 139 after adding eight today.
The Hawks scored twice in both the second and third innings while the Warriors added single runs in the bottom halves of those same innings. As a result, Westmont held a narrow five to four lead after three innings of play.
The Hawks scored once in the top of the fourth to tie the game at five, but Westmont responded with two in the bottom of the four to go ahead 7-5 in the seven inning contest. Leary drove in one with a double to deep right center and Gabel drove in the other on a sacrifice fly to center.
The top of the seventh proved to be the Warriors' undoing. Jesus Castellanos drove a two-RBI double down the left field line to tie the score at seven runs each. Later in the inning, Chris Pascual hit a sacrifice fly to left to drive in Castellanos.
Westmont will host La Sierra in a non-conference doubleheader on Friday, beginning at eleven o'clock.
