By Ron Smith
March 4, 2023
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Baseball (17-5, 7-2 GSAC) completed a four-game sweep of the Hawks of San Diego Christian on Saturday by taking both ends of a doubleheader. Warrior pitchers allowed just a single run in each of the Golden State Athletic Conference games as Westmont won by scores of 7-1 and 11-1.
 
In the first game, Chase Goddard pitched eight innings allowing one run on five hits. He struck out three and did not issue a walk. Goddard improved to 4-1 on the year.
 
Zach Yates took over in the ninth and retired the side in order to secure the Warrior win.
 
Westmont got the bats working early in the first game when Robbie Haw led off the inning with a double to left center. After Brady Renck walked, Bryce McFeely singled to left, driving in Haw and moving Renck to second. A walk to Ryan DeSaegher loaded the bases with one in and no one out.
 
Two outs later, Michael Soper drove a ball off the glove of the pitcher and beat out the throw to first. An error on the play allowed both Renck and McFeely to score and moved DeSaegher to third. Trey Dunn provided an RBI-single to right to bring home DeSaegher and make it a 4-0 game.
 
Westmont added two more runs on back-to-back-to-back singles by Soper, Dunn and Jack Fletcher, the latter of which picked up an RBI. Later in the inning, McFeely hit a sacrifice fly to center field to plate Dunn.
 
Both teams scored a single run in the eighth. The Hawks' came off a solo home run by Tre Pankratz. Westmont's run was the result of an RBI-single by Renck that drove in Luke Tillitt from third.
 
In the seven-inning second game, Ryan Humphreys started and pitched three innings giving up one run on one hit. He walked three and struck out two.
 
A trio of Warrior pitchers covered the remaining innings that were not only scoreless, but also hitless. Lucien Wechsberg pitched the fourth and fifth innings striking out four of the six batters he faced. Wechsberg was given credit for his first win as a Warrior (1-0).
 
Sam Kim pitched the sixth and Adam Sheehan retired the side in order in the seventh, notching two strikeouts.
 
Offensively, the Warriors scored in every inning except the third. In the bottom of the first, Westmont took advantage of three Hawk errors, a walk and a wild pitch to score two runs without getting a hit.
 
In the second Kaden Tsuji drove an RBI-double to left, to bring in the first of four runs. Jack Fletcher, who served as the courtesy runner for the Tsuji, advanced to third on a groundout by Parker Zarbaugh before scoring when Haw ground out to first. After Soper walked, McFeely tripled to left center for the fifth run of the game. McFeely then scored on a wild pitch.
 
Westmont's runs in the fourth inning came courtesy of a two-run home run by McFeely that went over the fence near the left field foul pole.
 
Four walks resulted in the first run of the fifth inning and a passed ball provided the opportunity for the second, making the score 10-1.
 
The final run of the game came in the sixth innings when Paul Mezurashi scored on a wild pitch. Mezurashi had previously reached on a double to right center.
 
Before welcoming Arizona Christian (15-8, 5-4) to campus for a three-game series next weekend, the Warriors will host the Firebirds of Saint Katherine (5-4) for a single game on Tuesday, March 7, beginning at 2:00 p.m.