Westmont Baseball (7-2, 4-2 GSAC) completed a three-game sweep of San Diego Christian (3-4, 2-4) on Saturday afternoon at Russ Carr Field as the Warriors took both ends of a Golden State Athletic Conference doubleheader. Westmont claimed the first game by an 11-4 score, then notched a 3-2 victory in the second.
Taylor Martin (1-0) earned his first win of the year by pitching the final two and two-third innings and giving up just one hit. He struck out one and did not allow a walk.
Daniel Butler started the game and pitched six innings allowing two runs on seven hits. He struck out four and walked just one.
The Hawks started the scoring, picking up one run in the top of the third on an RBI single by Joseph Tellez that drove in Justin DiStefano.
Westmont took the lead in the bottom of the fourth. With two away,
Blake Matthias singled to center field, then advanced to third when
Michael Pollex double down the right field line.
Graylin Derke then doubled to the gap in left center to drive in both Matthias and Pollex.
San Diego Christian tied it up in the top of the fifth when Austin Yoemen led off with a solo home run to left.
The bottom of the sixth saw the Warriors go up 4-2 on two unearned runs. With two outs and
Alex Bush on second base,
Blake Matthias reached on an error that allowed Bush to score. Pollex then doubled to left field to drive in Matthias.
In the top-half of the seventh, the Hawks tied the game up once more. DiStefano singled up the middle with men on first and second to pick up one RBI. After Tellez walked to load the bases with one away, Martin was called on to take the hill in relief.
Martin coaxed a potential inning-ending ground ball from Stephen Haviar but the Warriors could not turn the double play. Instead, Havier reached first on a fielder's choice, Tellez was retired at second and Yoeman scored the tying run. Martin prevented any further damage by getting Brooks Fages to ground out to second.
After the seventh-inning stretch, Warrior bats went to work and took control of the game.
Ryan Crowe started things off with a single to right center before being replaced on the base pads by
Ryan Beveridge.
Steven Pollex provided a sacrifice bunt to move Beveridge over to second base.
Michael Stefanic then reached on an error that allowed Beveridge to score.
Pinch runner
Zach DeMarcus advanced to second on an errant pick-off attempt and then scored when Bush doubled down the left field line. Bush reached third on a wild pitch before
Will Barring homered to left field to score the third and fourth runs of the inning.
The Warriors added three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning on a three-run home run to right field by Bush.
In the second game,
Andrew Vasquez started and pitched six innings of the seven-inning game. Vasquez gave up two runs on three hits, struck out six, walked four and was awarded the win.
Sam Sheehan earned a save by pitching a scoreless seventh.
The Warriors scored in each of the first three innings. In the bottom of the first, DeMarcus hit a solo home run to right center.
The second inning saw
Rudy Leon triple down the right field line to drive in
Turner Conrad. Leon nearly had an inside-the-park home run, but was tagged out as he slid into home.
In the third inning, Westmont picked up what would eventually be the winning run off the bat of
Will Barring whose double to left drove in DeMarcus from second.
The Warriors will continue GSAC play next weekend with a road trip to Rocklin to take on William Jessup in a three-game series.
