By Jacob Norling
February 18, 2022
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Golden State Athletic Conference play opened up on Friday in Santa Barbara, when the Warriors hosted the Menlo Oaks (5-4-1, 0-2 GSAC) for a doubleheader. Westmont (13-1, 2-0 GSAC) allowed an early three-spot in game one, but bounced back to win 11-3, before the arms led them to a 3-0 win in game two.
 
"I thought we played solid baseball today," said Westmont head coach Robert Ruiz. "We played some pretty clean games, with just a few mistakes. Obviously, it's still early in the season and we have to continue polishing up each week."
 
In game one, freshman standout Bryan Peck got the ball for the Warriors, coming into the game with a 0.50 ERA in 18 innings. The Oaks gave the right-hander a rude greeting in his first conference start, after the first two batters of the game reached safely.
 
Following a hit-by-pitch and a single through the right side, Menlo's Ethan Baird obliterated a ball down the right field line for a three-run homer. The left-hander skipped three-quarters of the way down the first base line, glaring into his own dugout as his teammates erupted. In their first GSAC game since March of 2020, the Oaks won the game's first moment.
 
Westmont won the remainder of moments that the day had to offer.
 
Menlo's 3-0 advantage did not last beyond Westmont's sixth batter of the day. After Brad Renck hit his first of three doubles, Simon Reid got Westmont on the board with an RBI single into center. Reid's courtesy runner, Dusty Shraeder, came around two batters later, when Josh Rego won an epic 10-pitch at bat by doubling to the right-center field wall.
 
Parker O'Neil capped off the first-inning rally with a line drive into center, bringing in Rego to tie the game at three.
 
In the bottom of the third, Rego found himself in the spotlight again. With two men aboard, Rego hammered a ball to the deepest part of the ballpark in left-center, bringing home Renck and Thomas Rudinsky. Rego beat the relay throw to third, and flexed to his dugout as they celebrated a 5-3 lead and Rego's team-leading fifth triple.
 
Finn Snyder added to the cause when he brought in Rego with a base hit to right field, giving Westmont a 6-3 advantage. An inning later, Reid picked up his 24th RBI of the campaign when Robbie Haw came in on a clean single up the middle.
 
Through six innings, Westmont led 8-3 thanks to their productive at bats, but Peck's ability to settle in after the first was not lost in the shuffle. Following the three-run first inning, Peck fired five scoreless innings, ultimately picking up his third win of the season with his six-inning outing.
 
"I was really impressed with Peck," noted Ruiz. "He's been really good for us and he faced some serious adversity in the first inning. For him to settle in and find a way to gut out six innings was fantastic. He's not going to have his A-plus stuff every week, but his ability to find a way is a sign of maturity."
 
Snyder and Rego each picked up another RBI as the game carried on, and the Warriors rallied to carry an 11-3 lead into the ninth inning. The Oaks scratched across three runs off of Aidan Holly in the ninth, but a diving catch from Rego at first finished off Westmont's first conference win of the season.
 
"Our guys did a good job offensively taking what the game gave us," reflected Ruiz. "We had some good at bats early and ended up getting into their bullpen pretty quickly. Our approach was a lot more complete today. Our goal is to be as aggressive as we can and I think in game one, our guys did exactly what we asked them to do."
 
In game two, Westmont struck first in the bottom of the second, when David Martinez brought in Rego with a double to left center. Snyder continued his big day at the plate by following up Martinez' double with a triple of his own, giving the Warriors a 2-0 lead.
 
Westmont's bats went quiet for the next few innings, but fortunately for the club, starter Eric Oseguera held the Oaks scoreless through four innings without breaking a sweat.
 
"Osey was awesome," began Ruiz. "He is a gritty competitor, and he was dealing with some hitters that were having great at bats against him. I thought they gave him a few at bats where they really made him work, but he maintained his composure and made big pitches when he needed to."
 
In the top of the fifth, after Martinez couldn't snare a hard hit ball down the third base line, the Oaks were gifted a leadoff runner on second base. Then, after Oseguera got an out, the right-hander walked a pair before being pulled with the bases loaded.
 
With the bases loaded and one out in the fifth, Ruiz opted to hand the ball to Sam Kim, a sophomore who hadn't surrendered a run in seven innings in pre-conference play.
 
Baird, the lone Oak with a big swing in game one, chased a breaking ball for strike three, putting Kim on the brink of getting out of the inning. The last man in Kim's way was Anthony Masetti. With the bases juiced, in a 3-2 count, Kim fired a fastball in on the hands of Masetti, who harmlessly flared a ball into the glove of Renck at second base.
 
Westmont's dugout pounced out of the dugout to greet the sophomore, who strutted his way off the mound after playing hero in the fifth.
 
"We threw him right into the fire and it was hot," said Ruiz. "To be honest, we haven't seen him in that situation. We had faith in him though, because we know he's a guy who can throw a strike with any of his pitches in any count.
 
"That's a tough situation to come into, I don't care who you are. For him to get that done made me really proud today."
 
Westmont's final run of the night came following Paul Mezurashi's leadoff double in the fifth. The speedster came in to score a batter later when Haw grounded a ball through the left side.
 
Kim came out for an encore in the sixth inning, and retired the side in order to finish one and two-thirds perfect innings in relief. After the Warriors went down in order in the bottom half of the inning, bullpen ace Carlos Moreno came out to secure the win.
 
Moreno got the first two men to stare at strike three before allowing a two-out single and a walk, bringing the potential tying run to the plate. Baird stepped in the box with two on and two out, nearly six hours after opening the day with a three-run home run. On this occasion, Baird passed the baton, lining a single into right field to load the bases for Hunter Van Cott.
 
On an 0-1 pitch, Van Cott got under a fastball, and flew out to Luke Tillitt in routine right field, sealing the doubleheader sweep for the Warriors.
 
"We respect our opponent and we know those guys are coming back tomorrow ready to compete," expressed Ruiz. "We have to keep our foot on the gas and play hard, and we know it starts with high energy. We know we're going to be in a couple tough games tomorrow."
 
Westmont and Menlo play two more tomorrow, with game one beginning at 11:00 a.m. Tickets are available on the Westmont Athletics website.