By Ron Smith
March 17, 2024
 
(HONOLULU) Westmont Baseball (18-7-1, 10-1-1 PacWest) extended its winning streak to eight and closed out its road trip to Hawaii with another doubleheader and series sweep. Westmont dispatched Chaminade (11-17, 4-9) by a score of 12-2 in the first game and 5-1 in the second.
 
As a result, Westmont now sits atop the PacWest standings with a two-game lead over #4 Point Loma Nazarene (10-5-1) who is in second place.
 
Sean Youngerman, who has not been charged with a loss this season, took the mound for the Warriors in the first game and earned his fifth win of the season. Youngerman pitched six innings, giving up two runs on five hits. He struck out eight and walked two.
 
The Silverswords took an early lead with a run in the bottom of the first. With two outs and men on the corners, JT Navyac drove in Casey Kudell from third with a single down the right field line.
 
Westmont did not let Chaminade's lead last long. With one out in the top of the second, Jaden Mingus singled through the right side. That brought up Liam Critchett who sent the third pitch he saw over the right field fence near the foul pole, giving Westmont a 2-1 advantage.
 
Westmont added four more runs in the top of the third. With two outs, Bryce McFeely singled to third base, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Michael Soper then delivered a single to center field that drove in McFeely. Soper advanced to second on the throw to the plate. Mingus followed with an RBI-single to center, allowing Soper to score. Then, Critchett was issued a walk to give the Warriors runners at first and second.
 
Both runners advanced on a double steal before Colin Callahan went the other way with a two-RBI single to right field. That made the score 6-1 in favor of the Warriors.
 
Chaminade moved within four runs in the bottom of the third when Kudell and Ruch delivered back-to-back doubles to center field, making the score 6-2.
 
In the top of the fifth and with one out, Soper singled down the left field line, then stole second to spark another Warriors' scoring opportunity. With a full count, Critchett was the beneficiary of a pitch clock violation, resulting in a walk. Callahan then picked up his second RBI of the day with a line-drive single to right center field that allowed Soper to score. Critchett took second on the play.
 
Critchett and Callahan both advanced on a wild pitch before Andrew Guidara drew a walk to load the bases. That resulted in a pitching change for Chaminade with starter Xavier Stoker giving way to Mac Elske. A wild pitch allowed Critchett to score and give Westmont an 8-2 advantage.
 
The Warriors added to their lead in the top of the seventh after Callahan led off with a single through the left side – his fourth hit of the game. Callahan advanced to second on a ground out to first by Guidara. One out later, Daniel Patterson singled to center field, driving in Callahan. Jake Bollengier followed with a single to center and reached second on an unsuccessful attempt by the Silverswords to retire Patterson at third. That brought up McFeely who delivered a two-RBI single to left. McFeely attempted to take second on the play at the plate, but ended up in a rundown and was retired. With the addition of three runs, Westmont held an 11-2 lead.
 
Cam Staton took over on the mound in the bottom of the seventh, pitching a scoreless inning.
 
Westmont added another run in the eighth. Soper led off the inning and reached on a fielding error. One out later, Critchett doubled down the right field line, recording his third RBI of the game.
 
With the score 12-2, the Warriors had an opportunity to invoke the PacWest mercy rule by holding the Silverswords scoreless in the bottom of the eighth. Staton returned to the mound to attempt to close out the game.
 
After retiring the first batter on a pop-up to second, Kudell was walked by Staton. The second out came when Ruch flew out to left. A Westmont error resulted in pinch hitter Caleb Kim reaching first and Kudell taking third base, giving Chaminade a chance to extend the game into the ninth inning. However, Staton struck out Rhyn Chambers on four pitches to end the game.
 
With the victory in the first game, Warriors had already secured their third PacWest series win in a row (Point Loma, Hawai'i Pacific, Chaminade). Now, Westmont had a chance to leave Hawaii undefeated.
 
The second game began with back-to-back singles by Patterson and Bollengier, resulting in base runners on the corners. A ground ball by McFeely could have turned into a double play. Bollengier was retired at second, but the throw to first went wide. Patterson scored on the play and McFeely advanced to second. Soper then stepped to the plate and hit an RBI-double off the right-center field fence.
 
After Tyler Dunn walked, a successful double steal gave the Warriors two runners in scoring position. Callahan hit a sharp one-hopper to short. However, Soper slid underneath the tag at home and scored the Warriors third run.
 
Ryan Humphreys took the mound in the bottom of the first with a three-run lead. The veteran pitcher retired the side in order, striking out the first two batters he faced. In the bottom of the second, he retired the next three batters he faced.
 
Westmont added two more runs in the top of the third to go ahead 5-0. McFeely earned a walk to start the inning, then proceeded to third on a hit-and-run single to left by Soper. Dunn walked for the second time in the game. The final pitch of his at bat got away from the Chaminade's catcher, allowing McFeely to score. 
 
The Silverswords secured the first two outs of the inning when they turned a double play on which Soper reached third. He then scored on a double down the left field line by Finn Snyder.
 
Humphreys returned to the mound for the third inning and, once again, set the Silverswords down one-two-three.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, Harper received a lead-off walk from Humphreys to become Chaminade's first base runner. Harper reached second on a ground out by Jaren Banis. Then, Humphreys struck out Kudell and Ruch to end the inning.
 
Humphreys struck out the side in order in the bottom of the fifth - all swinging. That made five strikeouts in a row for the Warrior starter.
 
In the sixth, Humphreys persuaded Brayden Braga to foul out to Patterson at third for the first out. That brought up Andrew Karns, who sent a 2-2 pitch up the middle. The ball struck Humphreys, ricocheting off his leg and redirecting toward second. The result was the first hit of the game for the Silverswords. After Humphreys walked Harper, his day on the mound came to an end. Joey Rico was summoned from the bullpen.
 
Banis walked to load the bases before Kudell fouled out to deep right field. Karns scored on the play and Harper advanced to third. That brought up Ruch who fouled out to third, ending the inning with the score 5-1.
 
Rico returned to pitch the bottom of the seventh. He retired Navyac on a fly out to right and Josh Regalla on a fly out to center. Then, he struck out Williams to end the game.
 
Humphreys was awarded the win, improving to 3-0. He allowed one run on one hit and struck out nine in five and one-third innings of work. Rico did not allow a hit in one and two-thirds innings.
 
The Warriors return from Hawai'i and will have next week off from competition. On Monday and Tuesday, March 25 and 26, the Warriors will host the Vulcans of Hawai'i Hilo in a pair of doubleheaders at Russ Carr Field. First pitch is at 11:00 a.m. on both days.