By Ron Smith
March 12, 2024
 
(HONOLULU) Thanks to strong starting pitching and hot Warrior bats, Westmont Baseball (12-7-3, 4-1-1) opened its Hawaii road trip by sweeping a doubleheader against Hawai'i Pacific (14-9, 6-6). The Warriors took game one 17-1 and then held on to win the second game 8-6.
 
Bryan Peck (4-1) picked up the win for the Warriors after using 71 pitches in six innings of work. He allowed one run on seven hits, struck out four and walked one. Sam Kim pitched the scoreless seventh, allowing two hits.
 
The game was scheduled for nine innings, but with a 17-1 lead after seven, the PacWest mercy rule went into effect and the game came to an end.
 
Before Peck threw his first pitch, the Warriors already had an 8-0 lead. With one away in the top of the first, Jack Bollengier singled to center field to ignite the Warriors' offense. Bollengier advanced to second on a passed ball before Bryce McFeely was walked. The last pitch to McFeely was a wild pitch that allowed Bollengier to reach third. When Michael Soper was hit by a pitch, Warriors occupied all the bases.
 
Trey Dunn cashed in on the scoring opportunity with a two-RBI single to left, driving in Bollengier and McFeely while advancing Soper to second. A double to center by Liam Critchett drove in two more runs, making it a 4-0 game.
 
Jaden Mingus moved Critchett to third with a single to left, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. When Andrew Guidara walked, the bases were full of Warriors for the second time in the inning. A ground ball by Colin Callahan drove in Critchett and an error on the play kept the bases loaded.
 
That turned the line-up over and brought up Patterson. His single to center drove in Mingus to make it 6-0. Bollengier produced another single on his second at bat, bringing home Guidara from third. Then, McFeely earned an RBI when he was hit by a pitch, forcing in the eighth run of the inning.
 
The Sharks tallied their only run of the game in the bottom of the first on a RBI-single to right by Kota Suzuki that brought in Nicholas Jio.
 
Westmont added two more runs in the top of the second. With one away, Critchett was hit by a pitch. The Warriors' first baseman reached third when Mingus doubled down the left field line on a 1-2 pitch. One out later, Callahan drove a double into left field to bring both Critchett and Mingus home and make the score 10-1.
 
Neither team scored again until the top of the fifth when Westmont plated seven more runs. Patterson led off with a single to center, then stole second. Bollengier then singled to left, driving in Patterson.
 
After Bollengier stole second, McFeely hit what appeared to be a home run to center field. However, the second base umpire ruled it a ground rule double and the ruling stood after conferring with the other officials.
 
With McFeely on second, Dunn singled to left driving in McFeely to make the score 13-1. That brought up Critchett who blasted the ball to left center. Once again, the ball appeared to be a home run, but was called a ground rule double. This time, the meeting of the minds by the officials resulted in a reversal and Critchett was awarded the two-run home run.
 
After a pitching change, the Warriors demonstrated their patience at the plate. Mingus walked and Guidara was hit by a pitch. Then Callahan walked to load the bases with one away. Patterson picked up an RBI when he was walked and Bollengier tallied an RBI on a sacrifice fly to right, resulting in a 17-1 score.
 
Peck ran into a bit of trouble in the bottom of the sixth, but pitched his way out of it. With two outs and the bases loaded, Peck convinced Chase Taylor to line out to short, ending the threat.
 
Sam Kim pitched the bottom of the seventh, and retired the first two batters – both on groundouts to first. After giving up back-to-back singles, Kim ended the game by inducing Skyler Agnew to fly out to right.
 
In the second game, Ryan Humphreys picked up his second win of the year (2-0). In five and one-third innings, Humphreys allowed one run on six hits, struck out four and walked two.
 
Like the first game, the Warriors scored in the top of the first inning, this time, however, producing a single run. Patterson led off with a single to center field, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. A single to center field by Bollengier drove in Patterson.
 
Hawai'i Pacific tied up the game in the bottom of the second when Jordan Otjen singled to left field to drive in Noah Hata from second.
 
The game remained tied at one until the Warriors scored five times in the top of the fourth. Soper led off the inning with a walk on five pitches. When Mingus was hit by a full-count pitch, Soper advanced to second. One out later, Callahan singled to left center, loading the bases.
 
A sacrifice fly to right by Tyler McEvoy drove in the first Warrior run of the inning, bringing home Soper. That was before Grant Yzermans singled to right center to score Mingus. Patterson stepped to the plate next and blasted the ball over the left center field fence for a three-run home run. No meeting by the umpires was required.
 
Westmont added two more runs in the seventh inning. As it turned out, those runs would be needed by the Warriors. Yzermans started off the top of the final inning with a single to left field, then advanced to second on a single by Patterson, also to left. A sacrifice bunt by Bollengier advanced the runners to second and third. One out later, Soper doubled to left center, driving in both baserunners.
 
With Humphreys out of the game, and two outs in the seventh, the Sharks strung together a walk and five singles to make the game 8-5. That's when Manny Soto was called on to close out the game. Soto persuaded Otjen to ground to short, but an error resulted in another run scoring and runners at first and second. That brought up Taylor as the potential winning run. On a 2-1 count, Taylor popped the ball up behind the plate and McEvoy secured the catch in foul territory to win the game. Soto, a freshman, was credited with his first collegiate save.
 
The Warriors and Sharks will go at it again on Tuesday in another doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. PDT.