By Ron Smith
March 26, 2024
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) A day after he hit the only pitch he saw over the center field fence, Finn Snyder helped propel Westmont Baseball (22-7-3, 14-1-1 PacWest) to a sweep of the Vulcans of Hawai'i Hilo (14-24, 7-17). Snyder went four for four with two doubles in the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader.
 
The Warriors won the first game of the twin bill by a score of 6-1 behind Sean Youngerman and Chase Goddard, then completed the series sweep by taking the second game 8-2.
 
"Hawai'i Hilo is a good team," said Westmont's head coach Tyler LaTorre. "They are a scrappy team and well coached. I thought it was a good statement by our guys to come out on an irregular schedule and compete the way we competed."
 
Youngerman won the first game, which started off as a pitchers' duel with the Vulcans' Aaron Davies. The first four innings remained scoreless as Davies held the Warriors to just one hit and Youngerman allowed the Vulcans just two.
 
In the top of the fifth, Youngerman retired the side in order to preserve the scoreless game. In the bottom half of the same inning, however, Westmont sluggers finally got to Davies. With one away, Tanner Beltowski became the Warriors' third baserunner when he worked the count full before drawing a walk. That brought up Trey Dunn whose single through the right side on an 0-2 count was the first hit since the first inning.
 
With runners at first and second and two away, Colin Callahan drove in the first runs of the day with a two-RBI single to center field. Callahan reached second on the play. Patterson then singled to left field, driving in Callahan and giving the Warriors a 3-0 lead.
 
That brought up Jack Bollengier who singled through the right side, advancing Patterson to third. After Bollengier stole second, Bryce McFeely drove a shot over the right field fence for a three-run home run and a 6-0 Westmont advantage.
 
"We scored six runs in the fifth, all with two outs," pointed out LaTorre. "We had a big hit from Callahan who continued to put good at bats together. It is not just one guy. It has been like that since I got here. It is fun to watch when it is everyone up and down the lineup putting in competitive at bats and doing what it takes to play winning baseball. We had big hits from the bottom of the order with freshmen coming up with big hits and we had big hits from Finn Snyder.
 
"For us, winning baseball is being relentless in the batter's box and putting pressure on the defense, doing what we are doing on the mound and playing really good defense behind."
 
In conference games, Westmont currently leads the PacWest in team batting average (.337), in team on-base percentage (.424), in team earned run average (3.45), and in team fielding percentage (.983).
 
The Vulcans threatened in the top of the sixth and pushed across a single run on an RBI-single by Coby Min. Youngerman, however, prevented any further damage by producing two strikeouts.
 
With a pitch count of 106, Youngerman exited the game after the sixth, having given up one run on five hits. He struck out six and walked just one. With the win, he improved to 6-0.
 
Chase Goddard was summoned from the bullpen to serve as the Warrior hurler and pitched the final three innings. Holding the Vulcan's scoreless, he scattered three hits over the final three frames. Goddard struck out four – including the last two batters of the game – without issuing a walk. He was credited with his first save of the year.
 
The second game was also close through the first four innings. As he has done five times now, Patterson led off the Warriors' half of the first inning with a solo home run. His rocket down the left field line resulted in his team-leading 11th home run of the season.
 
"This week was another testament to the guy at the top of the order – Daniel Patterson – setting the tone," noted LaTorre.
 
In the bottom of the second, Snyder, who was serving as the designated hitter, led off with a double to left for his first of four hits. Liam Critchett reached first base on an infield single that did not afford Snyder the opportunity to advance. A groundout to second by Callahan, however, moved both runners up one station.
 
A single by Tyler McEvoy scored Snyder from third and moved Critchett to the base recently vacated by Snyder. Then, Grant Yzermans delivered a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Critchett and making the score 3-0.
 
Hilo responded in the top of the third when Vance Oshiro sent a two-RBI single to center. That made the score 3-2 and forced Westmont starter Cam Staton from the game in favor of Aidan Holly. Staton pitched two-plus innings, allowing two runs on one hit. He struck out four and walked two.
 
With no one out and the bases loaded in the third, Holly struck out Arthur Soto before cajoling Alec Yamauchi to ground into an inning-ending double play.
 
In the bottom of the third, Snyder came up to bat for the second time and sent a two-out double into the left field corner. The Warriors were unable to cash in on the scoring opportunity, however, and the score remained 3-2 after three innings of play.
 
In the top of the fourth, Holly found himself in a bit of trouble with one away and Vulcan runners at second and third. Holly struck out Blake Tweedt before loading the bases with a walk to Bradyn Yoshida. Then he struck out Oshiro, ending the Vulcan's threat.
 
Holly would pick up the win, his second of the year, after pitching two innings without giving up either a run or a hit. Evan Johnson pitched the next two innings for the Warriors and held the Vulcans scoreless while giving up just one hit.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, Westmont created a bit of a cushion by scoring twice. McFeely hit a lead-off single up the middle, then advanced to second on a single to right field by Jaden Mingus. That brought up Snyder for his third at bat of the day. The designated hitter singled to left field, driving in McFeely and moving Mingus to second. Both runners advanced a base on a fielder's choice by Critchett. Then with two away, McEvoy singled to left to drive in Snyder.
 
Westmont added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth. With one away, Bollengier singled up the middle, Then with two outs, Mingus was hit by a pitch. In his fourth at bat, Snyder once again took the opportunity to collect an RBI, driving in Bollengier with a single to left. Then, Critchett connected on a two-RBI double to right, scoring both Mingus and Snyder and making the score 8-2.
 
Critchett had a slow start at the plate this season, but since the start of the 12-game winning streak, he is hitting .364 with three home runs and four doubles, and has 15 RBIs.
 
Snyder had five plate appearances in the series with the Vulcans. He tallied five hits - including one home run and two doubles. He also scored four runs and knocked in three RBIs.
 
Zach Yates was asked to close out the game in the top of the seventh. After hitting Oshiro with the first pitch of the inning, Yates retired the next three batters to secure the victory.
 
It was the 12th win in a row for the Warriors who have swept their last three series. Halfway through the PacWest conference schedule, the Warriors find themselves atop the standings with a two-game lead over #5 Point Loma Nazarene (22-7-1, 14-5-1).
 
"What we did today with our bullpen, was set up yesterday by Bryan Peck and Ryan Humphreys giving us good innings and Joey Rico and Caden Beloian coming in and doing what they did," asserted LaTorre. "We had two three-inning saves this weekend. It was good to see Goddard get out there and throw his three innings.
 
"I was happy with the way we played defense behind our pitchers and with continuing to apply pressure by attacking the strike zone. Game four was a little uncharacteristic with the number of free passes, but we made big pitches when we needed to. In order to sweep teams, you need to do it on the mound and have guys ready to go in the bullpen. That's what we did these last two days."
 
Next up for the Warriors is a non-conference doubleheader against Point Loma on Tuesday, April 2. The games at Russ Carr Field are scheduled for an 11:00 a.m. start.