Connor Dreyer leads Mustang baseball to split with Hope

By the time the clock struck 9 on Friday night in Fullerton, the day had not yet reached a satisfactory conclusion.

Hours earlier, Master's senior Connor Dreyer had dominated in three innings of near perfect relief to preserve a 6-5 win in Game 1.

Then, Joel Larsen belted a three-run home run in the first inning of Game 2. It was the initial highlight in a contest full of twists and turns that carried on deep into the night.

With the score tied in the top of the seventh inning, the Mustangs loaded the bases with no outs and didn't score. Then, in the bottom of the frame, right fielder Roy Verdejo threw out Hope International's Kent Burckel at the plate to extend the evening.  

Hope's Juan Gonzalez finally ended a double-header that began six hours earlier when he hooked a double into the right-field corner in the bottom of the ninth, bringing Tony Monroy around to score from first for a 5-4 win.

Master's fell to 13-4 overall and 4-2 in Golden State Athletic Conference play. Hope improved to 11-5 and 4-2 as the series dubbed by the popular "NAIA Ball" podcast as the "Big Series of the Week" got off to a dramatic – if longwinded – start.

The highlight of Game 1 came in relief.

Dreyer faced the minimum over three innings, using a double play in the seventh inning to erase the lone hit he allowed. He struck out four, displaying the kind of shutdown ability the Mustangs believed he possessed when he transferred to TMU before this year from NCAA Division 2 Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Dreyer has dealt with ongoing sickness to begin the semester, and after a handful of so-so outings, he was aggressive in attacking the strike zone Friday on the way to his first save as a Mustang.

"I just needed to go out there, shut out everything else going on and just pitch," Dreyer said. "I've been battling an ongoing sickness that has been holding me back a bit, but I just went out tonight, tried to not let that hold me back and just threw the ball."

The Mustangs held a 6-5 lead when Dreyer entered in the seventh inning thanks to Kameron Quitno's fifth-inning home run and sacrifice flies from Quitno and Byron Smith an inning later.

From there, Dreyer needed only 38 pitches to end the game.  

"It was definitely Connor's best outing of the year," Larsen said. "He pounded the strike zone and never gave them a chance to get back in the game."

Larsen started Game 2 with a blast over the right-field fence. It was the second home run of his Mustang career and a sign the junior has no plans of relinquishing the spot in the lineup he's carved out.  

"Joel's home run was definitely a highlight of the night," Dreyer said. "He's been super hot with the bat lately."

Dominic Donato hit a two-run home run in the third inning to bring Hope within a run, at 4-3, and Robert Mattei tied the score in the sixth inning of a game scheduled for seven innings with an RBI single.

The Mustangs loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the seventh. But then Hector Garcia exited the bullpen to end the fun. Garcia struck out three straight Mustangs to extinguish the threat. He punched out six batters over three scoreless innings in all.  

Hope answered by loading the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh, prompting Master's to bring center fielder Will Batz in as a fifth infielder. He wasn't needed.

Dominic Campeau skied the ball to right center, where Verdejo caught it and fired home as Burckel tagged at third and sprinted toward the plate. Smith tagged out Burckel to stop Hope – for the time being.   

"My focus was to make a long-hop or no-hop throw as well as being relaxed and stay on target with the catcher," Verdejo said.