The Master's University baseball team tied its longest winning streak of the season at five after defeating Arizona Christian, 14-4, on Friday morning. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, TMU was unable to extend the streak any further after the Firestorm walked-off in the eighth inning of the second game, 11-10.
"On the day it was fun to see the bats swing it really well," Master's head coach
Monte Brooks said. "There were some incredible accomplishments offensively. The pitching in the first game was really good and the pitching in the second was solid as well."
In the first game, Master's scored exactly four runs in three of the last four innings, breaking open what was a 2-2 ballgame after five.
In the top of the sixth,
Miles Henderson's RBI-single broke the tie, before
Joshua Lee scored on an errant pickoff attempt and
Ryan Bricker knocked in two more with a single.
Then in the eighth,
Joe Terlizzi's second RBI-double of the game scored one more, as did an RBI-single from
Roy Verdejo. Henderson's second RBI-base hit plated two to get TMU into double digits.
In the final inning, Terlizzi recorded his team-leading fourth RBI of the game on a fielder's choice, before
Byron Smith smashed a three-run home run to left to round out the Mustangs' scoring.
Ethan Schmidt pitched 4.2 innings in relief to improve to 4-0 on the season, giving up two runs while striking out five batters.
Trailing 1-0 in the second game, Henderson continued his tear offensively with a two-run single in the top of the second to give Master's the lead.
Jeremiah Farris added an RBI-single of his own to put the Mustangs up by two, only for the Firestorm to score eight unanswered runs to take a commanding 9-3 advantage.
TMU charged back in the sixth though, scoring five to get to within one.
Joel Larsen walked to score one before
Will Batz' grand slam cleared the bases.
ACU added one run in the bottom of the sixth, meaning Master's needed at least two runs in the top of the seventh to continue the game. The Mustangs did just that via a two-run shot from Verdejo, his team-leading eighth of the season.
After holding the Firestorm scoreless to force extras, TMU was unable to score in the top half of the eighth, setting the stage for a walk-off fielder's choice in the bottom of the inning, which evened up the series at one game apiece.
"Our pitching was actually pretty good, but we just shot ourselves in the foot defensively," Brooks said. "We gave them runs in the second game. It was raining and got slick, but we gave it to them. I really felt like we beat ourselves and that was sad."
Despite the loss, Master's has now scored double-digit runs in three-straight games.
On the day, Henderson went a combined 7-for-9 with a double and five RBIs. Terlizzi hit 5-for-10 with four RBIs, while Verdejo went 5-for-9 with three RBIs.
"A few guys had great days," Brooks said. "Some big home runs, Miles and Terlizzi had some good at-bats.
Master's (15-9 overall, 1-1 GSAC) and Arizona Christian (24-12, 1-1) are scheduled to finish their four-game conference-opening series on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m.
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