Well-rounded performance leads TMU Baseball to victory

The Master's University baseball team scored in every inning it batted in except for the first, as the Mustangs rolled to a 10-2 victory over Providence Christian on Wednesday afternoon inside Lou Herwaldt Stadium.
 
"It's always a goal to score a run an inning," Master's head coach Monte Brooks said. "It was a well-rounded game for us. We had 15 hits. They didn't make an error and we had to earn our runs. We hit some balls hard and took aggressive swings, which was encouraging."
 
TMU (6-3) got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning when Will Batz scored on a passed ball. Roy Verdejo launched a solo shot in the third to double the Mustangs' lead, before Batz put Master's up by three with a towering shot off the telephone pole beyond the right-field fence.
 
The Mustangs tacked on two more in the bottom of the fifth when Joel Larsen scored Verdejo and Brock Bell with a two-RBI single.
 
Up 5-0, TMU scored three runs in the sixth inning, one courtesy of an RBI-single from Ryan Bricker and the other two via a Verdejo double. The Mustangs then took a 9-0 lead after an RBI, two-out infield single from Cason Brownell in the seventh.
 
Providence Christian (0-1) spoiled TMU's shutout with a two-run home run in the top of the eighth, but Tim Compomizzi responded with a solo blast to left in the bottom half of the inning.
 
Nelson Schutte got the start and pitched three perfect innings to go along with four strikeouts. JoJo Penberthy came on in relief, striking out three batters in two innings of shutout baseball to earn the win. Austin Ruiz followed that up with two shutout innings and two strikeouts of his own, before Kameron Quitno pitched a scoreless ninth to close the door.
 
"We threw strikes and only walked one batter," Brooks said. "We were throwing down in the zone better today."
 
Verdejo led the Mustangs' offense, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored, a double, a home run and three RBIs.
 
"Roy had a day," Brooks said. "He was phenomenal."
 
Batz (2-for-3, a walk, a double, a home run, 1 RBI), Bell (2-for-3, two runs scored, a walk) and Byron Smith (2-for-3, two doubles) also recorded multi-hit games.
 
TMU's next game is currently scheduled for Feb. 19 at 11 a.m., when the Mustangs are slated to begin a four-game home series against William Jessup University. No fans will be admitted inside Lou Herwaldt Stadium, but the games will be live streamed at GoMustangs.com/Watch.