TMU Baseball splits with OUAZ on second day of series

The Master's University split Saturday's baseball doubleheader with Ottawa University Arizona, winning the first game 12-9 before dropping the second one 6-10, as the Spirt took three out four from the Mustangs in their Golden State Athletic Conference series played at Lou Herwaldt Stadium.
 
In the first game, the Mustangs scored four runs in each of the second, sixth and eighth innings, accounting for all 12 of TMU's runs.
 
In the second, Cason Brownell was hit by a pitch to score a run before Ryan Bricker's RBI-single doubled the Mustangs' lead. Brock Bell then doubled to right field to put Master's ahead by four.
 
OUAZ scored twice in the third before scoring four runs in the top of the sixth to go up by two. TMU matched the visitors sixth-inning output with four runs of its own, three of which came off the bat of Brock Bell, who hit a three-run homer to right field. A Byron Smith RBI-double scored the fourth and final run of the inning.
 
That lead did not last for long, however, as the Spirit scored twice in the top of the seventh to tie the game. In the bottom of the eighth, Will Batz was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to give Master's a lead it would not relinquish.
 
Aidan Stout pitched 5.1 innings, only giving up two earned runs, while striking out five. Ethan Schmidt earned the win in relief in his 3.2 innings of work.
 
In the second game, OUAZ took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, only for TMU to come right back with three runs in the bottom half. Bell knocked in the Mustangs' first run of the inning with an RBI-single before Roy Verdejo brought in two more with a double.
 
The Spirit regained its lead with two runs in the fourth before scoring six in the top of the sixth to break the game open. Verdejo homered to right field later that inning and Miles Henderson added an RBI-single in the seventh, but the Mustangs were unable to overcome the sizable late-inning deficit they faced.
 
Bell picked up six RBIs on the day, including five in the first game, after recording two hits in each contest. Verdejo tallied five hits on the day, including three doubles and one home run, to go along with his three RBIs. Smith also produced multiple hits in both games, while Henderson did so in the first game of the day.
 
Master's (17-13 overall, 3-5 GSAC) will hit the road again to face off with William Jessup (15-11, 7-9) in a four-game nonconference series beginning on Thursday at 11 a.m.