By Jacob Norling
March 12, 2024
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont College Baseball (14-7-3, 6-1-1) has taken an early hold of first-place in the PacWest conference, after finishing off a four-game sweep of Hawaii Pacific (14-11, 6-8) in Honolulu. In their first two weeks of PacWest play, the Warriors have now won a series over Point Loma, the fourth-ranked team in the nation (NCBWA), and swept HPU, a team that was 14-7 before yesterday.
 
"The way we've won on the road to start PacWest play is something to be proud of," said Westmont head coach Tyler LaTorre. "There's a lot of things we need to continue to clean up and fix, but you have to commend our guys for what they did in this series.
 
"Winning on the road is hard, and especially against a new team, in a new place. It was a good two days for us, and we're continuing to improve."
 
The Warriors batted around twice during game one, a contest they would eventually win via the PacWest mercy rule after seven innings. The scoring outburst began in the second for Westmont, when Jaden Mingus and Liam Critchett first scored on a pair of bases loaded free passes. The big blow came when the lineup turned over for Westmont, when Daniel Patterson cashed in the traffic with a two-run single.
 
Hawaii Pacific made Westmont starter Sean Youngerman sweat a bit a half inning later, when the Sharks got a pair back to make it a 4-2 game. The game stayed that close until the fifth inning, when the Warriors put up a number so crooked it wouldn't have fit on the Russ Carr scoreboard.
 
Jack Bollengier led off the fifth with a strikeout, but the junior-transfer would be the last Warrior to make an out for the next nine plate appearances. Jaden Mingus, who went 3-4 on the day, started the outburst with an RBI double that scored Bryce McFeely. A batter later, Michael Soper and Mingus would both come around on a two-run double by Critchett. A handful of pitches later, Critchett came around to score on a pair of wild tosses to the backstop.
 
Colin Callahan, Andrew Guidara, and Grant Yzermans then loaded the bases for Patterson, who promptly drove in his third and fourth runs of the game to make it a six-spot. Yzermans then came home on a walk by Soper, and then for good measure, the Warriors loaded the bases again for Mingus. The freshman then split the gap in right-center for a base-clearing double, allowing the Warriors to hang ten in the fifth inning.
 
"With Jaden, we've made some adjustments with the bat," explained LaTorre. "When you're making changes in the middle of the season it's not always easy, but for him to continue to put good at bats together in the middle of the lineup, it's huge.
 
"I'm super proud of Jaden's commitment of trying to be better each and every at bat. The more he plays, the better he is going to be."
 
Youngerman did not have his usual swing-and-miss stuff on Tuesday, but he was able to strike out a pair and work around traffic in five innings of work to earn his fourth win of the campaign. Evan Johnson and Chase Goddard both worked scoreless innings following Youngerman, and the club mercy-ruled HPU 14-2 to clinch the series win.
 
Looking to finish the job the Warriors would find themselves in a slugfest during game four, with HPU scoring the first two runs of the game in the bottom of the first. The two runs were not nearly enough to feel comfortable for HPU, as a nine-run second for the Warriors put the Sharks in deep water.
 
Mingus once again found himself in the headlines with a leadoff blast to straight-away left, beginning the inning with his second home run of the year. A few walks and singles allowed the carousel to start for the Warriors, who went station-to-station on RBI's by Tyler McEvoy and Grant Yzermans. Bollengier then pushed the total to six runs that inning when he punched the ball into the alley in left-center for a two-run double, scoring both McEvoy and Yzermans. McFeely then brought home Patterson on a base-hit, and the line kept on moving batters later, when both McEvoy and Yzermans collected their second RBI knocks of the inning.
 
In total, the Warriors brought 15 men to the plate in an inning that put the club up 9-2. HPU refused to let Westmont cruise to victory, however, with the Sharks getting a pair back in both the third and the fourth. Westmont got two back in the fifth on another two-run knock by Mingus, but the runs would prove to be crucial for the Warriors.
 
"Along with Jaden, the top of our order was great today," said LaTorre. "It starts with the top of the lineup, and DP has been a tone-setter for us. He's just a tough, competitive at-bat, and those at-bats roll into Bollengier, who is an incredible two-hole hitter."
 
La Torre continued, "The bottom of our order was phenomenal as well. McEvoy had three hits today, Yzermans came through, and up and down the line today, our bats were about competitiveness. Our guys did a great job of taking what Hawaii Pacific was giving us and being relentless."
 
Leading 12-6 entering the bottom of the fifth, the Warriors surrendered a home run, five walks, and a single to spot the Sharks four runs and a look at the ball game. With the bases loaded and two down in the inning, and the Warriors clinging on to a 12-10 lead, Joey Rico came on and struck out Noah Hata looking, allowing the club to exhale with their two-run advantage.
 
Patterson then led off the sixth with a triple to dead-center, before scoring on Bollengier's second hit of game four. Leading 13-10 entering the bottom of the sixth, Rico retired three more batters consecutively, before handing the ball over to Zach Yates for the seventh.
 
"For Rico to come in and get that last out," began LaTorre, "and then come back out and go one-two-three, it was the ballgame for us. His ability to bridge to Yates is one of the reasons we were able to get it done today."
 
Picking up right where Rico left off, Yates worked a quick-and-easy one-two-three seventh to cap off the four-game sweep. For the junior Yates, it is already his fourth save of the season.
 
"With us playing Chaminade on a shortened break, it was huge to 10-run rule 'em twice and save our pitching," said La Torre. "Peck can come back on Saturday, Youngerman got out of there in the fifth today, and those guys can come back ready to go this weekend.
 
"It was huge for us to score as many runs as possible to lighten the load on our pitching staff. I'll give credit to Hawaii Pacific, too. They never gave up and they did a great job of competing and putting pressure on us. With that, we were able to respond each and every time."
 
The Warriors will enjoy Wednesday's day off on the islands, before preparing for another four-game series against Chaminade this weekend. First pitch on Saturday is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. HST/6:00 p.m. PDT, and links to live coverage are available on the Westmont Athletics website.