By Bradford Sargent

March 11, 2017 

(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) The Warriors (13-6, 6-4 GSAC) defeated The Master's University (14-13, 5-7 GSAC) twice on Saturday.  Westmont won the first game 2-0.  Pitcher David Gaydos held the Mustangs to six hits in seven and two-thirds innings.  The junior improved his record to 3-0 on the season.  In the second game, Matt Hartman gave up only one hit in seven innings pitched.  His strong performance was highly consequential in another 2-0 Westmont win. 

The Warriors went ahead of the Mustangs early in game one.  Westmont scored twice in the bottom half of the second inning thanks in part to singles from Travis Vander Molen and Shane Soria.  Game two followed a similar pattern.  Westmont jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first and never looked back.

Westmont senior Michael Pollex doubled in both games.  He was the only batter – from either team – to hit anything beyond a single in the 16 innings of baseball that were played on Saturday.  That's how good the pitching was!  Game-one starter Aaron Alexander threw seven strikeouts for the Mustangs.  He went down as the losing pitcher despite a strong performance.  The other losing pitcher, game-two starter Robert Winslow, held Westmont to five hits in six innings.  And for the home team, Hartman's 1-hit pitching performance deserves a second mention.  The junior pitcher struck out nine. 

Coach Robert Ruiz had congratulatory words for his pitchers.  Ruiz stated, "Our offense was competitive but we weren't great.  We played solid defense like we've been doing all year and that's certainly helping us.  But I've got to give a lot of credit to David Gaydos and Matt Hartman for taking the team on their shoulders today and carrying us through that doubleheader."  Westmont's next game will take place on Monday March 13 against St. Cloud State University (5-3-0).  The Warriors return home on Tuesday March 21 for a game against Saint Katherine College (9-14-0).