Senior Dan Cabuling (3-3) allowed just three runs, one of which was earned, in six innings of work as Westmont Baseball (19-19-1, 10-13 GSAC) claimed an 11-3 Golden State Athletic Conference win over #11 Concordia (26-14, 15-8) on Monday afternoon at Russ Carr Field.
"I am really excited for Dan," said Westmont head coach Robert Ruiz of his starting pitcher. "Dan has matured this season, which started out really tough for him. It is exciting as a coach to see how he has fought through that. Each outing he focuses on his process of improving in the little things. Throughout all of the adversity he has faced, his leadership has not struggled. The fact that he has focused on being a great leader has helped him get through the adversity as a pitcher. Today he competed in the strike zone all day."
Offensively, the Warriors pounded out 15 hits, including three doubles, a triple and two home runs. Defensively, Westmont produced four double plays and threw out three Eagles trying to steal.
Westmont took a one-run lead in the second inning after designated hitter Tim Leary led off with a double to center. Leary reached third when Coby Cress grounded out to second base and then came home on an RBI-ground out to shortstop by David Gabel.
In the third inning, Westmont put up a six spot on the board while sending 11 batters to the plate. First baseman Thomas Hocutt doubled to right field before shortstop Brent Fukushima was hit by a pitch. Catcher Brandon Gildea then reached on a bunt to load the bases and was replaced at first with courtesy runner Steven Motush.
A ground ball to short by second baseman David Pennington retired Motush at second but also allowed Hocutt to score the first run of the inning. Center fielder J.J. Turbin then delivered a bunt single to bring home Fukushima. A single down the left field line by Leary scored Pennington from second and moved Turbin to second.
After right fielder Coby Cress singled to load the bases, third baseman David Gabel doubled to right center, driving in Leary and Turbin and advancing Cress to third. Mitch Petrak then reached on a reached on a fielder's choice that retired Cress at home and moved Gabel over to second.
Hocutt returned to the plate for the second time in the inning and picked up his second hit – a single to left center – and an RBI.
In the fourth inning, J.J. Turbin made it an 8-0 game with an inside the park home run to deep left center that snuck past the outstretched arms of Eagle's center fielder Tony Harkey, son of former major league player and current Yankee's bullpen coach Mike Harkey.
"As soon as I saw Harkey lay out and miss it I started saying to myself, 'You've got to send him. You've got to send him'," said Ruiz who also serves as the third base coach. "Probably just to convince myself that by the time he actually got there that I would send him. The relay throw took the shortstop a little bit up the line. J.J. is probably our best runner and so we took a shot. The shortstop made a good throw and made it a close play. When you are up seven in your own yard you have to test the defense and force them to make plays. It paid off and brought a little bit of momentum into our dugout."
Concordia scored once in the fifth and twice in the sixth to pull the Eagles to within five runs. But the Warriors were not done. With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Torin Shaikh, who had taken over for Hocutt at first base, was hit by a pitch.
A ground ball by Motush, who was in the game at shortstop, was mishandled by the Eagle's shortstop allowing Shaikh to reach second and putting Motush on second. That brought up Gildea who drove the first pitch over the left field fence for a three-run home run.
"Brandon Gildea did a phenomenal job today," said Ruiz. "Brandon and Jarratt Rouse, our two sophomore catchers, have competed very well for us this year. It is nice to see them progressing not only defensively but on the offensive end as well. Brandon's was a big hit for us. Those runs were very important to us. You can never get comfortable against a team like Concordia.
"We called on Motush to play a significant portion of that game for us defensively," continued Ruiz. "As a sophomore, he came in cold off the bench. He was focused and made a lot of plays. He made a nice play on Harkey up the middle and covered a lot of ground. We have a lot of confidence in what we think he can do for us defensively."
With nine games remaining in the regular season, Westmont is currently in fifth place in the Golden State Athletic Conference standings, one-half game ahead of Fresno Pacific (21-18, 10-14) and a game and one-half behind Biola (17-21, 10-10).
At the end of the season, the top six teams will advance to the GSAC Tournament for a chance to compete for the automatic berth in the 46-team NAIA National Championship.
On Tuesday, the Warriors and Eagles will conclude their four-game series at Russ Carr Field beginning at three o'clock.
