By Jacob Norling
May 18, 2021
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) After a gutsy day of postseason baseball on Tuesday, the Westmont Warriors will live to fight another day. Westmont won two elimination games on Tuesday in the NAIA Opening Round Tournament, defeating Corban (Ore.) 11-4 in the morning, and Saint Katherine 12-5 in the evening.
 
"I'm very proud of the way these guys responded today," said Westmont head coach Robert Ruiz. "You work all season to try to get to the postseason and then yesterday you face off against a conference opponent that you've seen eight times. And with a stellar pitching performance by Velasquez yesterday it was tough, putting our backs against the wall right away.
 
"Then going into the loser's bracket today it would have been really easy to just cash it in, but I thought we did everything but that. I thought our guys came out and had quality at bats in the morning game and then Chad Stoner, I can't say enough about his start."
 
Starting pitching was the catalyst for the ball club, after Monday's starter Jameson Kruger allowed an early crooked number the Warriors were unable to come back from. On Tuesday, starters Chad Stoner and Will Anderson pitched their games of the year to keep hope alive.
 
"The grit and toughness that Chad has shown us all year has been phenomenal," said Ruiz. "He's battled through soreness, through injuries, and it's hard to think of the right word when you want to compliment him. He's a phenomenal leader and he pushes through when his team needs him. He set the tone for the whole day."
 
In game one at 9:00 a.m., Stoner went seven innings and allowed just two earned runs while striking out five. The bats got the club on the board first with a three-run fourth, highlighted by a no-doubt bomb off the bat of Thomas Rudinsky.
 
Saint Katherine took advantage of two Westmont errors in the bottom of the fifth and tied things up at three, before the Warrior bats came alive and claimed the early morning matinee. Westmont scored four runs in both the sixth and seventh innings, first taking the lead on a safety-squeeze by Brady Renck.
 
The club then broke things open when John Jensen corked a two-run shot over the netting beyond the right-field fence. Renck then showed his versatility an inning later, launching the farthest hit of his college career onto the Thorrington Field track for a three-run home run.
 
Two innings later the club solidified their chance to keep playing baseball.
 
In game two at 5:00 p.m., senior southpaw Will Anderson showed shades of his 2019 Opening Round performance against USAO. Anderson went seven innings for the Warriors and found success in his most vintage strengths: limiting soft contact and controlling the running game.
 
Anderson struck out only three, but surrendered just four runs and ended two separate innings on pick-off attempts to put his team in a position to win.
 
When Ruiz was asked if he thought back in the fall of 2017, when 5'9, 140 pound Anderson showed up as a freshman, that he would eventually hand the ball to the lefty with Westmont's season on the line in multiple seasons, Ruiz smiled.
 
"To be honest with you, I think I believed it before anybody did. I remember when he was a freshman and one of our biggest goals was to help him believe that he was as good as we knew he could be. He accomplished that way faster than we would have hoped for, and he's been awesome.
 
"The last few years he's pitched in some of the biggest games, and we put him in some of the toughest situations because his poise and demeanor is exactly what we hope to have in those moments. He has led by example from the day he got here and he's come up huge for us in countless situations."
 
Offensively in game two, Renn Duncan began writing the final pages of his storybook senior season, going 4-4 and driving in four with a pair of doubles. Duncan did record a hit in his first three seasons in the program, but on Tuesday he helped ensure that he'd get to put on his uniform at least one more time.
 
"Renn Duncan," started Ruiz as he nodded and smiled. "My goodness, what an unbelievably clutch night out of a guy that hasn't had a ton of starts in his career. But this year he's been huge for us, and for a season to come out and have that kind of night when our backs are against the wall is a game he'll never forget. And we'll never forget it either."
 
The heart of Westmont's lineup was as clutch as the club has been on year, with Simon Reid, Alex Stufft, and Daniel Netz collecting five RBIs to pad the Warriors lead.
 
Stufft came on relief in the ninth inning, and got the final three outs to buy the club at least one more day at Russ Carr Field.
 
"Tomorrow we need to come out and just stay in the fight," said Ruiz. "We need to be in attack mode and keep putting together quality at bats and continue throwing strikes."
 
Westmont is now faced with a David versus Goliath challenge come Wednesday morning. At 11:00 a.m. the club will take on one-seeded Georgia Gwinnett for a chance at a rematch with Hope International at 2:30 p.m. If the Warriors were to beat Georgia Gwinnett and Hope International, they would play the Royals once more on Thursday, for a chance to go to Lewiston.
 
"We have to win the 'free ninety' war or the 'extra-base war'," said Ruiz. "We just have to minimize their opportunities and maximize our opportunities. Nothing changes. One inning at a time is how we've always gone about things, and we know we're facing a very talented Gwinnett team that plays with a lot of energy. We need to be able to match that intensity, and be able to be our absolute best.