By Zach DeMarcus
February 6, 2018
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Baseball (8-1) defeated the Golden Eagles of La Sierra (6-4) this afternoon by a score of 9-4. Senior Michael Stefanic led the way offensively going three for four with two RBIs.
 
Sophomore left-hander Cory Dawson took the mound for the Warriors. He threw three strong innings of one-hit baseball – striking out two and walking none. Westmont head coach Robert Ruiz said, "I was really happy with how Cory took the mound. Cory really set the tempo and the tone for the day. He threw all of his pitches for strikes. He has a chance to be a really good pitcher. When he pitches like he did today he's going to give our team a chance to win."
 
In the bottom of the second, Isaiah Leach reached on an error by the shortstop. Todd Yost singled through the left side – Leach aggressively advanced to third on the hit and allowed Yost to reach second on the throw from the left fielder. Henry Hedeen hit a ground ball to the second baseman. Leach broke for home on contact and drew a throw from the second baseman that skipped past the catcher – allowing Leach to score. Tyler Roper followed with an RBI single through the left side scoring Yost.
 
Hayden Euper replaced Roper as the courtesy runner. Euper then stole second. William Hoyer-Pingle hit an RBI single to center field scoring Euper for the third run of the inning.
 
Nolan Cannon came in and pitched a scoreless fourth inning for Westmont. He gave up one hit and forced three Golden Eagle hitters to groundout. "Nolan Cannon did a great job," said Ruiz.
 
Westmont's offense attacked again in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Roper doubled down the left field line – Euper then re-entered as the courtesy runner. After a fly out, Euper took third base for his second steal of the game. Taylor Garcia hit a two-out RBI single to center field scoring Euper. Taylor Bush walked and Stefanic completed the two-out rally when he doubled down the left field line scoring Garcia and Bush.
 
Will Anderson came in and kept La Sierra scoreless through his inning of relief. Ruiz added, "Will Anderson was great today."
 
Andrew Sim threw two innings of shutout baseball when he retired six straight Golden Eagle batters. He finished with two strike outs. Ruiz said, "Andrew Sim was as good as I've seen him."
 
Ruiz added of Dawson, Cannon, Anderson, and Sim, "These guys don't have a lot of experience on the mound yet – to get those guys going was really important for us."
 
Westmont completed their offensive attack in the bottom of the seventh inning. Stefanic hit a one-out single and later stole second. Luke Coffey doubled down the left field line scoring Stefanic. Austin Muller hit a pinch hit RBI double down the left field line plating Coffey. Zack Mendez came in to pinch hit for Yost. He scored Muller on an RBI single to right center – concluding the scoring for the Warriors.
 
Ruiz said, "I thought our offense did a good job of staying patient and putting together innings where we got a couple of crooked numbers. We kept the pressure on their defense. I thought we ran the bases really well today. Hayden Euper took advantage of every opportunity that he was given."
 
Westmont reliever Rob Hill gave up three runs on three hits and struck out two in the top of the eighth.
 
Bailey Reid came in to throw the ninth for Westmont. He surrendered a run on two hits and two strikeouts. This concluded the game and brought the final score to 9-4 in favor of the Warriors
 
"I thought the guys played well. We were not flat footed and we came out ready to play. After a long trip to Arizona, it could have been really easy to be flat. I felt like in all three phases of the game we were on the attack," added Ruiz.
 
Westmont hosts Vanguard this weekend for a three-game Golden State Athletic Conference series. Ruiz said, "Vanguard, year in and year out, is a really good team. We know there's not going to be an easy game this weekend. We're excited to compete in close games and to continue to test ourselves."
 
Friday's game is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. First pitch of Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.