By Ron Smith
April 2, 2024
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) In a match-up of NCAA Division II top-25 teams, #22 Westmont Baseball (23-8-3) split a non-conference doubleheader with #5 Point Loma Nazarene (27-8-1) on Tuesday at Russ Carr Field. The Sea Lions took the first game 6-3 before Westmont claimed the second by a score of 2-1.
 
As a result, Westmont won the season series from Point Loma 3-2-1. In a four game series in early March, the Warriors won two and lost one before the fourth game ended in a 4-4 tie.
 
Though today's games had no effect on PacWest records, Westmont and Point Loma currently stand atop the conference standings. Westmont has a 14-1-1 (.906) conference record while Point Loma, which has played eight more conference games, is at 18-5-1 (.771).
 
In both of today's games, Westmont's head coach Tyler LaTorre chose to limit the number of innings by each of his pitchers in the non-conference contests. As a result, no pitcher saw more than three and one-third innings of work.
 
Six different pitchers took the mound for the Warriors in the first game, starting with Bryan Peck. He was followed by Cam Staton, Caden Beloian, Evan Johnson, Sam Kim and Manny Soto. By intentionally giving several hurlers an opportunity to pitch, LaTorre was looking to keep his staff sharp for this weekend's upcoming four-game conference series with Fresno Pacific (16-13, 7-9 PacWest).
 
The Sea Lions got on the scoreboard early with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. The first run came when Bryson Hashimoto grounded out to short while driving in Eric Smelko from third. Esai Santos then scored from third on a wild pitch.
 
Westmont evened the score in the bottom of the second with a two-run home run to right center by Andrew Guidara. Liam Critchett, who had led off the inning with a single to right, scored on the play.
 
Point Loma tallied single runs in both the third and fourth innings. In the third, Scott Anderson drove in a run on a groundout to short. Then in the fourth, Smelko drove in Joey Nicolar with a single down the left field line.
 
The Sea Lions added to their lead in the top of the eight, scoring twice to take a 6-2 lead. Nicolai and Santos delivered RBI-singles to produce the four-run lead.
 
Westmont's offense threatened a comeback in the bottom of the eighth, but produced just one run. Jack Bollengier singled to left to lead off the inning, then reached second on a ground out by Bryce McFeely. Then, Bollengier was driven in on a single by Michael Soper.
 
Cam Staton, who gave up two runs on four hits in three and one-third innings, was tabbed for the loss.
 
In the second game, LaTorre sent five pitchers to the mound in the seven-inning affair, beginning with Ryan Humphreys. In an inning and two-thirds, the left-hander produced four strikeouts. Humphreys was followed by Aidan Holley, Joey Rico, Sean Youngerman and Zach Yates.
 
In the bottom of the first, Westmont took a 1-0 lead. Daniel Patterson led off the inning with a double to left-center field. After the Warriors' third baseman advanced to third on a groundout by Bollengier, McFeely sent a sacrifice fly to center field to bring home Patterson.
 
In the top of the third, the Sea Lions tied the game when a groundout by Hashimoto allowed Anderson to score from third.
 
The score remained tied at one until the bottom of the fifth when the Warriors pushed across the final run of the game. With one away, Tyler McEvoy reached base via a full-count walk. One out later, McEvoy was replaced at first by Isaac Veal to add some extra speed on the bases. On the next pitch, Patterson doubled again to left center and Veal dashed home without a throw to the plate.
 
In the top of the sixth, Youngerman, who had also pitched the fifth, retired the side in order. Then Yates came on in the seventh and earned his seventh save of the year. Youngerman was awarded the win, improving to 7-0 on the year.
 
Five Warrior pitchers held the top-ranked team in the West Region to just one run on four hits while posting seven strikeouts.
 
The Warriors' series with Fresno Pacific begins on Saturday with a doubleheader at Russ Carr Field. First pitch is at 11:00 a.m. The series resumes on Monday after both teams travel north to Central California for a doubleheader on the FPU Diamond.