By Zach DeMarcus
March 16, 2018
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) A two-run deficit after three innings proved to be too much for the Warrior offense, as Westmont Baseball (16-11, 9-9 GSAC) fell in the first game of a three-game Golden State Athletic Conference series against San Diego Christian (11-16-1, 6-12 GSAC) by a score of 1-2.
 
The series was originally scheduled to be hosted in San Diego, but due to the likelihood of rain it was moved to Santa Barbara. Therefore, San Diego Christian was designated as the home team.
 
Right-hander Grant Gardner took the mound for the Warriors. He pitched yet another gem, but would be given the loss – his first of the season (5-1). He scattered six hits over eight innings while only surrendering two runs. This is Gardner's third week in a row going at least eight innings.
 
Westmont head coach Robert Ruiz said, "I thought Grant really competed well as he has been doing week in and week out for us. With a relatively wet field, I thought we did a good job on defense – just managing the game and taking care of the ball. I think offensively, again, we were way too inconsistent and not competitive enough at the plate. We just need to put together better at-bats."
 
The Hawks struck first in the bottom of the second inning. Bobby Mead led off the with a single to right center. An out later, Mario Morales singled through the left side – putting runners on first and second. Josh Lamonte followed suit with a single down the right field line. The ball bounced off the concrete where right fielder Austin Muller quickly gathered the ball and threw out Lamonte at second base. Mead scored on the play.
 
San Diego Christian added their second run in the bottom of the third. Tyler Schindel doubled down the left field line to kick off the inning. After a fly out, Schindel would advance to third on a wild pitch. Caeden Barnes walked and Ryan Culp lined out to third base. This left runners on the corners with two outs. Mead hit a sharp groundball through the left side to score Schindel. Gardner enticed Brock Mosier to fly out to end the inning – bringing the score to 2-0 in favor of the Hawks through three.
 
Mosier's fly out to end the third started an impressive streak for Gardner. He would go on to retire 15 Hawks in a row before surrendering a two-out walk to Barnes in the bottom of the eighth. Mead's RBI-single in the bottom of the third was the last hit Gardner would surrender on the day.
 
Ruiz added, "I tip my hat to Grant for continuing to put up zeros and compete and keep us in that game to give us a shot."
 
Jerry Quemada (5-3) took the mound for the Hawks. He threw seven strong innings giving up three hits and one run, while striking out six and walking three. The Warriors struggled to put pressure on Quemada early in the game.
 
Michael Stefanic doubled in the first inning and Austin Muller singled in the second inning. The Warriors were unable to tally another hit until Muller singled again in the top of the seventh.
 
Quemeda enticed Travis Vander Molen to pop out for the second out of the second inning to start a streak of his own. He would go on to retire 14 Warriors in a row. Stefanic walked to lead off the top of the seventh to end the streak.
 
In the top of the seventh, with Stefanic on first and one out, pinch hitter Zack Mendez drew a walk – allowing Stefanic to advance to second. Muller then picked up his second hit of the day with an RBI-single through the left side to score Stefanic. Quemada would get the next two batters out to avoid any further threat.
 
Ruiz said of Muller, "He's been doing a good job for us. He's had some clutch hits throughout the year when he's had opportunities to play. Now that he's in the lineup more consistently he's been continuing to be that guy."
 
In the top of the eighth, the Warriors looked to strike again. William Hoyer-Pingle led off with a walk – ending Quemada's afternoon. Matt Meggers came on in relief for the Hawks. Meggers balked – advancing Hoyer-Pingle to second. Taylor Garcia then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Hoyer-Pingle to third. The Warrios would fail to score Hoyer-Pingle as Meggers struck out Taylor Bush and enticed Stefanic to groundout to third to end the inning.
 
Henry Hedeen hit a one out single in the top of the ninth to try and muster up some offensive life, but it was too little too late. Meggers retired Muller on a fly out to center field and struck out Vander Molen to end the game.
 
Ruiz said, "I think we had a lot of at-bats go by in that game where we didn't put together good at-bats. I have a lot of respect for Quemada who we faced today. He's been a great pitcher in this league and he's continued to have success.
 
"We knew we were facing a good pitcher today. I think whenever you're in a situation like that the focus needs to be less on the outcome and more on the consistency of putting together good at-bats. I don't think we did that offensively until the very end of the game when his pitch count got pretty high."
 
The Warriors and the Hawks will continue their three-game series tomorrow with a doubleheader beginning at 11:00 a.m. "I really believe that the little things make the big things happen. That filters down to our approach individually as hitters when we step up to the plate. I hope the quality of that looks better. I would expect that if we can improve that than we are going to give ourselves a chance to go win this series," finished Ruiz.