By Jimmy Friery
April 20, 2026

(COSTA MESA, Calif.) Westmont Baseball (24-17, 21-17) split their doubleheader with Hawai'i Pacific (24-19, 22-15) on Monday, winning a 1-0 pitchers' duel before dropping game two 13-1. The games were played at Vanguard's Dean Harvey Field, rescheduled from the mid-March four-game series which was postponed due to rain in the Aloha State.

Game one was the first of a seven-inning neutral site doubleheader, with first pitch at 11 a.m. on a Monday. Thus, it was bound to be a low-scoring affair. Opener Josh Hickey got two outs in the bottom of the first before a single and error ended his outing with runners on first and third. Manny Soto was called upon, getting a lineout to end the inning scoreless.

Westmont had their first two batters of the second reach, but failed to score. In the fourth, they took advantage, though. Tanner Beltowski led off with a walk and advanced to third on Isaac Veal's single. Jesse Di Maggio's ensuing groundout was a productive one, plating Beltowski for what would be the only run of the game.

The Warriors only had one batter reach base in the final three innings of the shortened game. However, it would not matter, as the pitching staff held the slim lead.

Soto worked around an error in the bottom of the fourth to end his day with 3.1 scoreless innings allowing just two hits, in line for the win. Brandon Tatch came on to pitch a clean fifth and sixth innings.

Three outs away from an important victory, Tatch surrendered a leadoff single. After earning a strikeout, another single put the tying run in scoring position and the winning run on base. In the highest leverage moment of the game, Tatch rolled a 6-4-3 double play to complete his three-inning save and a Warrior win.

The three Warriors pitchers—Hickey, Soto, and Tatch—allowed a combined five hits with no walks while tallying five strikeouts. Sharks pitcher Rylen Bayne was unlucky to be charged with a one-run, seven-strikeout complete game loss.

Unfortunately, though, game two was quite the contrast. After the Warriors failed to score from a leadoff double in the top of the second, Hawai'i Pacific put up five in the bottom half. A one-out error was followed by a homer on the very next pitch, and later, a hit-by-pitch and single with two outs was followed by a three-run homer.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Sharks used five straight singles to score three more, extending their lead to 8-0.

Westmont hit three straight singles with two outs in the top of the sixth, but a strikeout left the bases loaded and the score intact. In the home half, Hawai'i Pacific hit a two-run and three-run homer in the same inning for the second time of the game, making it 13-0.

Down to their final out, Griffin Brown ripped a pinch-hit homer to left field to erase the shutout. The final score would be 13-1 to split the doubleheader.

The opening win was vital for the Warriors—the reigning conference champions—in their quest to return to the four-team PacWest Conference Championship. With one conference series remaining, they are in the mix with today's foe—Hawai'i Pacific (22-15)—Fresno Pacific (20-14), Jessup (22-16), and Azusa Pacific (21-17) for what will likely be the final two spots.

The Warriors return to Russ Carr Field for their final two series of the year. They host non-conference Cal Poly Pomona this Friday and Saturday before ending with a four-game series against Menlo the following weekend, beginning May 1.