By Zach DeMarcus
February 16, 2018
 
(ROCKLIN, Calif.) Westmont Baseball (10-3, 4-3 GSAC) handed William Jessup (14-4, 6-1 GSAC) its first Golden State Athletic Conference loss of the year this afternoon – beating them by a score of 10-5. Travis Vander Molen went 2-4 with two home runs and three RBIs – Brody Weiss also homered for Westmont.
 
Right-hander Grant Gardner (3-0) took the mound for Westmont. He picked up his third win of the young season – going six plus innings and giving up five runs and striking out six in the process.
 
William Jessup struck first in the bottom of the second when Steve Pastora cranked a 2-2 pitch over the center field fence for a solo home run.
 
Westmont would respond in the top of the fourth. Brody Weiss worked a full count to lead off the inning. He then nailed the 3-2 pitch over the left field fence to knot the game at one. Michael Stefanic reached on a throwing error by the shortstop – he advanced to second on the throw. With one out, Henry Hedeen advanced Stefanic to third on a groundout to the first baseman.
 
Isaiah Leach hit an RBI-single down the right field line – scoring Stefanic and bringing up Travis Vander Molen. Vander Molen would waste no time as he hit the first pitch he saw over the right field fence for a two-run home run – putting Westmont up 4-1.
 
With runners on second and third and two outs, Gardner enticed Josh Duitsman to fly out to center field – escaping the jam and putting up a zero after Westmont's big inning.
 
Westmont attacked again in the top of the fifth. Tyler Roper was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning – Hayden Euper replaced Roper as a courtesy runner. Taylor Garcia singled to center field. Weiss flied out and Stefanic grounded out – leaving runners on second and third with two outs. Luke Coffey walked to load the bases – bringing up Hedeen. Hedeen then served a 1-0 pitch down the right field line for a three-RBI triple and put Westmont up 7-1.
 
William Jessup punched back in the bottom of the fifth. Sam Curtis drew a one-out walk and Wil Law advanced Curtis to third with a single of his own. Gardner coaxed Austen Swift to fly out for the second out of the inning – leaving runners on first and third. Curtis scored on a wild pitch and Law advanced to second. Andrew Shaps finished the damage with an RBI-single through the left side to score Law. Gardner forced Joe Starick to ground out to end the inning. Westmont continued to lead 7-3 through five innings.
 
In the top of the sixth, Vander Molen struck again as he whacked another first-pitch home run over the left-center fence for his second of the afternoon.
 
Gardner hit the lead-off batter, Curtis, to start the bottom of the seventh and walked Law. Justin Sanders then came in to relieve Gardner. His afternoon was over after he gave up back-to-back RBI singles. Pitching coach Tony Cougoule brought in Cory Dawson. Dawson quickly got Connor Brain to line out to third and Cal Koga to fly out to right field. He then reared back and struck out Pastora to end the inning – leaving Westmont with an 8-5 lead.
 
Westmont added another run in the top of the eighth. Leach led off with a single through the right side – Euper came in to pinch run for Leach. With one out, pinch-hitter Andrew Bayard singled to center field – advancing Eueper to second. Bryce Morison re-entered the game for Bayard. Tyler Roper singled through the right side to score Euper – extending Westmont's lead to 9-5.
 
Dawson sat William Jessup's next three hitters down in order for a quick bottom of the eighth.
 
In the top of the ninth, Westmont added their 10^th run of the game. Stefanic and Coffey hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. Hedeen flied out to deep center field allowing Stefanic to tag up and advance to third. Leach then scored Stefanic on a fielder's choice, wrapping up the scoring for Westmont.
 
Dawson came back out to go for the save in the bottom of the ninth. He coaxed Law to foul out to the third baseman for the first out. He conceded a walk to Swift – allowing his first baserunner. Dawson blew a heater past Shaps to strike him out for the second out of the inning. He would finish the job as he enticed Braun to fly out to right field to end the game.
 
The three-game series continues tomorrow afternoon with a doubleheader; first-pitch is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.