Superb pitching leads Mustangs past British Columbia

Excellent pitching can put a team back on track and end a losing streak.
 
So the University of British Columbia found out on Saturday when The Master's University received two excellent performances from its starting pitchers in a double-header sweep of the Thunderbirds. Scores were 6-1 and 7-1.
 
The victories ended a two-game slide and lifted the Mustangs to 7-3-1.

In game two, senior Robert Winslow went the distance for the second game in a row (seven innings), limiting the visitors to one run on four hits while striking out 10.
 
In the opener, senior Eric Williams (1-1) tossed seven innings of four-hit, one-run ball to notch his first victory of the season.
 
The right-hander struck out eight, including the side in the first inning, walked two, and blanked UBC through the first five innings.
 
By that time he had a 2-0 lead to work with.
 
That was forged in the bottom of the third when Aaron Shackelford hammered a two-out, two-run homer over the left field fence that scored Max Maitland ahead of him.  It was the senior shortstop's team-leading fifth home run of the year. 
 
The Thunderbirds halved the deficit in the top of the sixth inning on a Ben Mitchell home run.
 
In the last half of that frame, Shackelford sparked a Mustang response.  He drew a leadoff walk, moved to second base on a ground out, and raced home when Roy Verdejo singled to left field.
 
In the seventh, the Mustangs extended the lead to 6-1, capitalizing on two Thunderbird errors to score three times, two of those in unearned fashion.
 
Maitland's one-out single plated Caleb Jaime, who had reached earlier in the inning on an error that brought home Will Batz.  Then, with two outs, Anthony Lepre lofted a sac fly to center field that scored Jeremiah Farris for the five-run lead.
 
Jaime went to the mound in top of the eighth and managed to get out of a bases-loaded jam before closing out UBC in the ninth for his third save of the young season.
 
Maitland paced the Mustangs with two hits in the opener.
 
In the nightcap, senior righty Robert Winslow took the ball and shut down the Thunderbirds.
 
Winslow is now 3-0 with a 0.95 earned-run average and 25 strikeouts.
 
He whiffed two in the top of the first inning and then watched his teammates give him all the runs he needed in the last half of the frame.
 
Maitland led off with a single, moved up 90 feet on Shackelford's base hit to left field and then both seniors trotted home after Anthony Lepre swatted his fourth homer of the campaign.
 
Winslow answered with a shutdown second inning and then struck out the side in the third.  He blanked the Thunderbirds through five innings and gave up his only run an inning later on a solo homer.
 
The Mustangs increased their advantage with a single run in the fifth and then put the game away with three more an inning later.
 
Byron Smith's two-run double was the big hit in the sixth, and Nick Tuttle raced home on a passed ball with the game's final run.
 
Winslow closed out the win with a 1-2-3 seventh.
 
After playing eight games in the past 10 days, the Mustangs get some time off before starting GSAC play Friday against Arizona Christian.
 
The two clubs will play double-headers at TMU on Friday and Saturday.