After almost a month away from Lou Herwaldt Stadium, The Master's University baseball team was excited to once again play at home on Friday. However, the Mustangs didn't quite get the homecoming they were looking for.
TMU's offense was limited to just three runs in both games on Friday, as Ottawa University Arizona swept Master's in a Golden State Athletic Conference doubleheader, 11-3 and 5-3.
In the first game, the Mustangs scored a run in each of the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, but Master's was already trailing 10-0 before that.
"The first game was just a tough game honestly," Master's head coach
Monte Brooks said. "We just didn't come out and play with a lot of intensity and intelligence."
Brock Bell's RBI-single got TMU on the board in the sixth inning.
Ryan Bricker (2-for-5) then hit an RBI-double in the seventh before a
Nick Tuttle RBI-single in the eighth rounded out the Mustangs' scoring. OUAZ added a run in the top of the ninth to win by a final margin of eight runs.
The Spirit flew out of the gates in the second game as well, putting up three runs to take an early lead. After that, starter
Nelson Schutte threw four-straight scoreless innings to complete his outing, finishing with three strikeouts.
"Outside of Schutte's first inning he threw a pretty good game," Brooks said. "We just fell short in the end."
Master's got a run back in the bottom of the third via a Bell RBI-single. OUAZ then tacked on two runs in the top of the seventh and final inning to extend its lead to four.
Another Bell RBI-single, as well as one from
Joe Terlizzi, cut TMU's deficit in half. But the Spirit was able to strand the tying runs on base, taking the first two games of the four-game series.
"The second game was a very clean and tight game," Brooks said. "We had opportunities with runners on but just didn't get the big hits."
Terlizzi finished 3-for-4 with an RBI in the second game, while Bell was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Byron Smith (2-for-3) also recorded multiple hits, including a double.
The two teams are set to return to Lou Herwaldt Stadium on Saturday, with a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
