By Ron Smith
April 5, 2019
 
(LAKESIDE, Calif.) Westmont Baseball (25-10, 12-10 GSAC) spilt a doubleheader with the Hawks of San Diego Christian (8-30, 3-23) on Friday afternoon at Barona Stars Field. The 18th-ranked Warriors won the first game by a score of 11-2 before falling in the second game 3-2.
 
Grant Gardner (7-2) gave the Warriors seven strong innings of pitching in the first game to claim the win. Gardner allowed two runs on six hits, striking out five and walking two. Sean Coyne and Zace Lewis pitched one inning each in relief with neither pitcher allowing a hit. Coyne struck on one in the eighth while Lewis fanned two in the ninth.
 
"Grant met with us last week after his outing," said Westmont head coach Robert Ruiz. "He has had a couple of hard performances in a row. Grant talked about some small adjustments he wanted to make and he came out today and made those adjustments. He did a very good job. He led our team to that first victory. He had great tempo and was back to his old self. It was great to see."
 
Offensively, the Warriors scored in seven of the nine innings and tallied 16 hits in the opening game.
 
"We consistently committed to sticking with our approach at the plate and didn't beat ourselves by coming outside of it," appraised Ruiz.
 
Bush went four for seven on the day with two walks and five runs scored. Alex Stufft was three for five with a run, four RBIs, a walk and a sacrifice bunt. Chad Jones went three for six with two runs, two walks and two RBIs.
 
"Alex did a really nice job at first base," said Ruiz. "He had some nice picks and a couple of big hits for us. Chad made some good plays for us at second and had some big at bats for us. Those are some guys that haven't played every day who did some good things for us today."
 
In the first inning, Nick Sablock singled through the right side to drive in Taylor Garcia who had led off the inning with a single to right.
 
Taylor Bush led off the top of the second for the Warriors, then reached third when Jones was walked. A successful double steal was compounded by a couple of Hawk errors that resulted with Bush scoring and Jones advancing to third. Coffey brought Jones home with a single up the middle.
 
Bush reached again to lead off the fourth, this time earning a walk. A single by Jones to right center moved Bush to second before Coffey laid down a bunt single to load the bases with no outs. Stufft then doubled down the left field line to drive in Bush and Jones and move Coffey to third.
 
Sablock found himself at first to lead off the top of the fifth, the result of a throwing error. That brought up Isaiah Leach who deposited the ball over the right field fence for a two-RBI home run. Bush then drove a double to left field and scored on a single by Jones, making the score 8-2, midway through the fifth inning.
 
For the third time in the game, Bush provided the Warriors with a lead-off baserunner by walking in the seventh inning. Jones also walked to give the Warriors runners at first and second. After both runners advanced courtesy of a wild pitch, Bush scored on a ground out by Stufft.
 
The Warriors added another run in the eighth after Bryce Morison tripled to left field. Sablock brought in Morison with a ground ball to second.
 
Stufft led off the ninth with a double down the left field line. One out later, Stufft advanced to third when Kyle Soria's pinch hit scampered through the right side of the infield. Morison scored on a ground ball to second by Morison.
 
Cory Dawson (6-3) took the hill in game two and pitched into the seventh inning. Though he would be charged with the loss, Ruiz was pleased with his outing.
 
"Cory did really well," said Ruiz. "When you give a guy zero breathing room it is easy to look at one or two pitches here or there, but there is nothing you can over critique about his outing. Kody McLain came in and got us the ground ball we needed for the double play, we just didn't get it done. Both of those guys gave us every opportunity to win."
 
The Warriors and Hawks were tied at two going into the bottom of the seventh and looked to be headed to extra innings. However, a Warrior misplay resulted in the winning run crossing the plate and ending the game. It was an unfortunate ending for the NAIA's best fielding team (.979 fielding percentage).
 
Westmont's first run came in the top of the second inning. For the fourth time on Friday, Bush reached first as the lead-off batter. This time, he singled to center field. After a sacrifice bunt by Daniel Netz, Jones singled to left to drive in Bush.
 
The Hawks scored twice in the bottom of the third to take their first lead of the day. Ryan Culp drove double to right center filed that drove in Marlo Morales and Joel Pedretti from second and first respectively.
 
Westmont tied the score in the fifth inning after Coffey was hit by a pitch. A sacrifice bunt by Stufft advanced Coffey to second. Jeremiah Canada came in as a pinch runner for Coffey and advanced to third when Tyler Roper grounded out to second base. Morison drove in Canada with a triple to right.
 
The same two teams will meet back and Barona Stars Field tomorrow for another doubleheader. First pitch is at 11:00 a.m.