Westmont Baseball (8-9) sent six pitchers to the mound as it battled its way to a 6-5 victory over the Thunderbirds of British Columbia (3-3) on Thursday afternoon at Russ Carr Field. The Warriors scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to secure the victory.
Freshman Steve Larson (1-0) was awarded the win after facing just two batters in the eighth inning. Senior Brandon Gildea (0-0) earned his second save of the season after he faced three batters in the ninth.
Matt Thornton took the loss for the Thunderbirds. He gave up two runs on two hits in one and two-thirds innings of work.
The Warriors made it a 1-0 game in the bottom of the first inning when Joey Gonzalez scored on a wild pitch. Gonzalez had reached on a walk and taken third on a throwing error.
In the top of the third, British Columbia took a 2-1 lead after the Warriors gave up back-to-back walks to start the inning. After a sacrifice fly moved Justin Orton to third and Sebastian Wong to second, Tyson Popoff singled to left to drive in Orton. Wong held at third on the play, but Popoff was caught between first and second when Westmont left fielder Steven Pollex' throw was cut off by Gildea who was playing third base at the time.
Gildea fired to second baseman Andrew Devian who drove Popoff back toward first base and then threw to catcher Jarratt Rouse as Wong broke for home. Wong reversed his path and Rouse fired the ball back to Gildea who tagged Wong out as Popoff made it safely to second. Tyson would later score on a single to center field by Jerod Bartnik.
In the top of the fifth, British Columbia took a 3-1 lead on and RBI infield single by Bruce Yari that drove in Wong from third base.
Devian led off the bottom of the fifth inning for the Warriors with a single to right. After Gonzales' sacrifice bunt moved Devian to second, Gildea singled up the middle, Devian rounded third and headed home but was thrown out at the plate. Gildea moved to second on the play.
David Gabel advanced Gildea a base with a single to center field before Pollex was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Will Barring then singled to drive in Gildea. Gabel reached third and headed home, but for the second time in the inning a Warrior was retired at home, this time for the third out.
The bottom of the six saw the Warriors take a 4-3 lead. With the bases loaded and two away, Gildea hit deep into the hole at short to drive in Alex Bush. When Popoff, the Thunderbird shortstop, threw the ball away in an attempt to retire Gildea at first, Chris Stroh scored the second Warrior run of the inning.
British Columbia tied the game with a run in the seventh off an RBI single by Tyler Enns. In the eighth, Matt Spillman doubled down the right field line with one away. Popoff then doubled to left field, driving in Spillman to give the Thunderbirds a 5-4 advantage.
After Bartnik walked, Larson was called upon to pitch for the Warriors. Larson coaxed Kevin Biro into lining out to center field and then walked Yari to load the bases with two outs. Before Enns would have a chance to drive in more runs, Rouse picked off Popoff at third to end the inning.
The bottom of the eighth saw Devian reach on a lead-off walk and take second on a bunt single by Gonzales. Gildea then produced a bunt to move Devian and Gonzales up one base. Originally Gildea was called safe at first to load the bases, but a discussion amongst the umpires resulted in a reversal and Gildea was called out. David Gabel was then intentionally walked, bringing up Pollex with the bases loaded and one away.
Pollex doubled off the right-centerfield fence, driving in Gonzales and Devian to give Westmont a 6-5 lead.
In the top of the ninth, Gildea gave up a bunt single to Enns before getting Vinny Martin to pop up to second base. Pinch hitter Brendan Rose was called upon to move Enns over, but instead hit into a 4-6-3 game-ending double play.
Tomorrow morning, the Thunderbirds will return to Russ Carr Field for a 10:00 o'clock game against Menlo. Then at 2:00 the Menlo Oaks will take on Westmont in the first game of a three-game series.
