By Ron Smith
April 1, 2023
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) After tying a program record of 17 consecutive wins on Friday, #12 Westmont Baseball (27-7, 12-3 GSAC) dropped both games in a doubleheader with Jessup (14-7-1, 7-10-1) on Saturday. Westmont lost both games by a score of 5-4.
 
In the first game, Jessup scored a single run in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Chris Cook that drove in Chris Lopez.
 
Westmont responded in the bottom half of the first with two runs of its own. A sacrifice fly by Parker O'Neil brought home Robbie Haw for the first run, before Brady Renck scored from third on a wild pitch.
 
The score remained 2-1 until the top of the fifth when Jessup tied the game on a groundout by Lopez that allowed Kevin Gutierrez to score from third.
 
The Warriors took the lead again in the bottom of the sixth, when Bryce McFeely drove in Renck on a sacrifice fly to right.
 
In the top of the eighth, Jessup picked up three runs to take a 5-3 lead. Zach Yates had come in to pitch and struck out the first two batters with just six pitches. Then, a comebacker to the mound glanced off of Yates' glove and redirected to where no Warriors were near. The result was an infield single for Jaisten Cabatbat. The next batter, Nate Van Patten, reached on a disputed hit-by-pitch call, giving Jessup runners on first and second.
 
After Gutierrez was walked, Gabe Arteaga took over duties on the mound. Back-to-back hits by Brennan Rozell and Lopez resulted in three runs being added to Jessup's tally.
 
Westmont made it interesting in the bottom of the ninth after McFeely produced a lead-off single. O'Neil followed with a single to center, giving Warriors runners on first and second with no outs. Then, Parker Zarbaugh laid down a sacrifice bunt that successfully advanced the runners to second and third.
 
Shane Hofstadler came in as a pinch hitter and was intentionally walk to load the bases. A sacrifice fly by Finn Snyder drove in McFeely from third, but also recorded the second out of the inning.
 
With the potential tying run on second and the potential winning run on first, Michael Soper was asked to pinch hit. Soper hit a bounding ground ball over the third baseman's head for a single. Paul Mezurashi, who was pinch running at second, rounded third and was headed for home with dreams of scoring the tying run. However, Van Patten, who was playing in left for Jessup, threw a line drive to the plate that resulted in Mezurashi being thrown out for the final out of the game.
 
In the second game, the Warriors got on the scoreboard first with another sacrifice fly by O'Neil that brought home Renck.
 
That 1-0 lead did not last long however. Jessup put up five runs in the top of the second, which proved to be enough to win the game. The Warriors scored three in the bottom of the second to make it a 5-4 game, but neither team would score again.
 
Westmont's second-inning runs came as the result of a two-run home run by Soper and a ground ball by McFeely that drove in Haw.
 
After the doubleheader, Westmont recognized 16 graduating seniors for their contributions to the program:

 

• Paul Mezurashi
• Robbie Haw
• Carlos Moreno
• Ryan DeSaegher
• Jack Fletcher
• David Martinez
• Justin Rodriguez
• Brady Renck
• Zac Bridger
• Parker O'Neil
• Adam Sheehan
• Parker Zarbaugh
• Luke Tillitt
• Collin Wong
• Gabe Arteaga
• Eric Oseguera

 
These 16 student-athletes make up one of the winningest classes in program history and were a part of the historic run to last year's NAIA World Series.