Stout pitches TMU Baseball to split with William Jessup

Aidan Stout pitched a seven-inning complete game to give The Master's University baseball team a split with William Jessup on Friday inside Lou Herwaldt Stadium. The Warriors took the first game 6-5, before Stout's outing led the Mustangs to a 4-2 victory in the second half of the doubleheader.
 
"It was fun to see him complete it," Master's head coach Monte Brooks said. "He did a very good job of pitching. He pitched and that's why he had success. He threw 70% strikes. The goal is 70% and he did that."
 
TMU went ahead 2-0 in the second game via two, first-inning RBI-singles, one from Roy Verdejo and the other from Byron Smith.
 
Stout pitched 4 2/3 shutout innings before a William Jessup two-out double tied the game up at 2-2. The Mustangs immediately got two back in the bottom half of the inning, spurred by an RBI-double from Ryan Bricker.
 
The visiting Warriors threatened in the top of the seventh, putting runners on first and third with two outs and the go-ahead run at the plate. But Stout induced a game-ending groundout, as the right hander improved to 2-0 on the season and gave William Jessup (7-1) its first loss of the season.
 
In the first game of the day, the Mustangs scored a run in each of the first three innings, but still found themselves trailing 4-3. A Verdejo RBI-groundout tied the game in the bottom of the first, before Jeremiah Farris' RBI-double gave Master's its only lead of the game in the second inning.
 
The Warriors scored three runs in the top of the third, before Brock Bell's solo shot brought the Mustangs to within one.
 
William Jessup tacked on a run in the seventh and another in the eighth to take a three-run lead going into the bottom of the ninth inning. TMU twice crossed the plate in the inning, on a Bricker sacrifice fly and a Bell RBI-single, but Master's (8-4) fell one run short in a 6-5 defeat.
 
"We had chances to win and didn't do it," Brooks said. "They played better than us. We chased pitches and got ourselves in a hole. We weren't very disciplined at the plate in the first game and that hurt us. Against good teams like that who are experienced and well coached, they capitalized."
 
Despite the loss in the first game, Brooks was pleased with what he saw from his team defensively throughout the day.
 
"Defensively we played pretty well all day long," Brooks said. "We made some nice plays. Jeremiah (Farris) made some good plays at shortstop, as did (Ryan) Bricker up the middle."
 
For the day, Bell went 5-for-8 with two runs scored and two RBIs, while Bricker (3-for-7, two runs scored, two RBIs), Farris (3-for-5, one run, one RBI) and Will Batz (3-for-7, one run, one walk) all recorded three-or-more hits.
 
The two teams return to Lou Herwaldt Stadium on Saturday for another doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m., while game two will begin approximately 30 minutes after the completion of the first game.
 
No fans will be allowed inside the stadium, but the game will be broadcast at GoMustangs.com/Watch.