By Ron Smith
April 5, 2022
 
(COMPTON, Calif.) Westmont Baseball (36-6), ranked sixth in the NAIA, sent eight men to the mound in a planned bullpen day and shutout the Mariners of Marymount California (11-20) while allowing just four hits and striking out 12. The group surrendered just three walks and did not have a hit batsman.
 
Since Westmont head coach Robert Ruiz did not play any of his four regular starting pitchers, or several of his most used relivers, today's result displayed the depth of the Westmont pen.
 
Offensively, the Warriors put up 14 runs on 13 hits to claim their sixth win this season over the Mariners.
 
Five of those runs came in the top of the first. With Robbie Haw on third and Simon Reid on first, Thomas Rudinsky sent a three-run blast deep over the left field fence. Jack Fletcher later picked up an RBI when he drove in Josh Rego from third. Then Parker Zarbaugh scored on a wild pitch.
 
By the time starter Adrian Holly took the bump for the Warriors he had a five-run cushion to work with.  Holly, who retired the first two batters he faced, gave up a single to right before retiring the Mariner's clean-up hitter on a fly ball to center. Holly was awarded the win as the pitcher of record when the Warriors took the lead.
 
The Warriors added a run in the top of the second when Rudinsky drove in Brady Renck from third with an infield single.
 
In the bottom of the second, Cameron Phelps took over pitching duties for Westmont. Phelps walked the first batter he saw, then retired the next three in order.
 
After a scoreless top of the third, Zach Coleman retired the side in order in the bottom half of the inning.
 
The Warriors extended their advantage in the top of the fourth with a two-run blast to left field by Josh Rego that made the score 8-0. Rego's home run brought home Rudinsky who had reached on a walk.
 
Adam Sheehan pitched a scoreless bottom of the fourth, despite surrendering two walks. He struck out Jeremy Robles to end the inning and preserved the shutout.
 
A bases-loaded triple to right-center field by Renck in the top of the fifth further extended the Warriors lead to 11-0.
 
The Mariners posed their greatest scoring threat in the bottom of the fifth. Daniel Patterson retired the first batter when a ground ball deflected off his glove toward Renck at second. Renck was able to recover the ball and redirect it to Rego at first for out number one.
 
Then, Patterson gave up three consecutive base hits, to load the bases with Mariners. He then coaxed Antonio Diaz into a ground ball near the second base bag. Haw fielded the ball, stepped on second and fired to first to complete the double play and end the threat.
 
Following a scoreless top of the sixth, David Martinez was asked to pitch for the first time as a Warrior. He struck out Ulysses Duran, but a dropped third strike allowed the Mariner to reach first. Martinez then struck out the next two batters he faced before retiring Robles on a ground out to short.
 
Westmont would add one run in each of the next three innings. In the seventh, back-to-back doubles by Renck and Jonah Paez made the score 12-0. Then in the eighth, Kahi Rodriguez produced an RBI-single to left to score Jeremiah Canada from second. In the ninth, Canada hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Luke Tillitt from third base, stretching the Warrior lead to 14-0. Tillitt had reached on a stand-up, lead-off triple to left-center.
 
Meanwhile, the Warrior pitching staff continued to impress. Zach Yates took over pitching duties in the bottom of the seventh and was the only Warrior called on to pitch two innings. He faced the minimum of six batters in those two frames, striking out five and getting the sixth to pop up to short.
 
In the ninth, Haw moved from shortstop to pitcher and retired the side in order to end the game. Westmont pitchers retired the last 12 batters they faced.
 
The Warriors will take the rest of the week off from competition. Next week, they will host Academy of Arts in a non-conference series. The Warriors and Urban Knights will face off in a single game next Friday at 2:00 p.m. and then play a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at 11:00 a.m.