Because it possesses one of the NAIA's most dynamic lineups to this point in the season, The Master's University found the early portion of Friday's Golden State Athletic Conference opener to be unfortunate, not uncomfortable.
"With our offensive capabilities, we feel we're in every game," said Master's head coach
Monte Brooks, whose team was second nationally in doubles, triples and stolen bases before the weekend series.
Master's fell behind by four runs early in the first of two games at Herwaldt Stadium against Menlo College on Friday before composing a furious sixth-inning rally and later ending the game on a walk-off wild pitch in a 5-4 win.
The Mustangs won the day's second game, 7-4, in a contest that held its own suspense, even if the drama didn't match Game 1.
In the day's opener, right fielder
Roy Verdejo threw out a Menlo runner at the plate in the top of the ninth inning to keep the score tied, 4-4. And
Kameron Quitno led off the bottom of the inning with a double before his pinch runner,
Brayden Luft, wheeled around to score the game-winning run on a wild pitch.
The Mustangs (11-2) stormed out of the dugout, jumping and spraying water on Luft. The moment was the punctuation mark on a strong comeback effort.
Down 4-0 in the sixth, Master's sent eight men to the plate, scoring four runs on three hits and two Menlo errors.
Tyler Van Marter's double down the left field line was the biggest blow in the rally, and he later came home on a wild pitch to tie the score, 4-4.
Kyle Adkins kept the Mustangs in the game, grinding through six innings on the mound and allowing four runs on five hits.
Connor Dreyer provided three innings of scoreless relief to earn his second win as a Mustang.
Van Marter finished the opener 4-for-4. He said afterward that no game is bigger than another but conceded Golden State Athletic Conference play is the "meat" of the schedule.
Last year, while Van Marter was still at the University of Antelope Valley, the Mustangs made a strong push at the end of the season. But they finished tied for fourth in GSAC standings, and that hurt their postseason odds.
Friday, the Mustangs moved to 2-0 in GSAC play behind a commanding performance in Game 2.
Byron Smith lifted a towering drive over the fence in left-center for a two-run homer in the second inning. And
Kaleyl Anderson drilled a ball off the top of the fence in dead center with the bases loaded in the fourth, bringing in two more runs.
The Mustangs led 5-1 after four.
Menlo scored twice in the fifth to keep things interesting. But
Caleb Jaime relieved
Aidan Stout with the potential tying run in the on-deck circle in the sixth inning and worked his way out of trouble before pitching the seventh to earn his first save of the season.
The day's turning point, however, came in the sixth inning of Game 1.
"You can't lack the confidence because it was still early in the game," Van Marter said of being down 4-0. "We still had three or four innings to play, which was a lot of baseball."
Anderson sparked the turnaround, reaching on an error to open the sixth.
Nick Tuttle singled, and a throwing error brought the speedy Anderson around to score.
Brock Bell followed with an RBI single, and Van Marter shot a double down the left field line to bring the Mustangs within one.
Master's was just getting started.
