Verdejo extends GSAC-leading home-run, RBI totals in split with ACU

Roy Verdejo hit three home runs and recorded eight RBIs across Saturday's Golden State Athletic Conference doubleheader against Arizona Christian, helping TMU Baseball score 26 runs. However, TMU Baseball had to settle for a split after winning the first game, 17-2, and narrowly dropping the second one, 11-9.
 
"Offensively today we were phenomenal," Master's head coach Monte Brooks said. "We had incredible at-bats and had a chance to win two."
 
After giving up a run in the top of the first in the series opener, the Mustangs scored 14 unanswered runs over the next five innings, including three runs in each of the first and second innings and six in the fourth.
 
A Byron Smith RBI-single was capped off with a Will Batz RBI-double, as Master's put up three runs in the bottom of the first.
 
Eight of the next 11 Mustang runs came via the long ball, with Verdejo and Brock Bell each homering twice and Jeremiah Farris adding a solo shot of his own. Ryan Bricker's bases-clearing double in the fourth scored the only three runs not scored off a home run during that span.
 
After Arizona Christian got one back in the top of the sixth, Marc Ortiz recorded a two-RBI single, while Verdejo tacked on an RBI base hit of his own to round out TMU's scoring.
 
Aidan Stout pitched a nine-inning complete game, striking out three while only conceding two runs and walking just one batter.
 
"Aidan threw a gem in the first game and we made some defensive plays that were special," Brooks said.
 
The Mustangs fell behind in the second game, this time by a 7-0 margin, but Master's fought back to make a game of it.
 
A Bricker-RBI single got TMU on the board in the bottom of the third, before Nick Tuttle scored two with an inside-the-park home run after the Firestorm center fielder dove for the ball but was unable to stop it.
 
ACU responded with a three-run homer in the top of the fourth, only for Verdejo to promptly return the favor in the bottom of the fifth with a three-run blast of his own, raising his GSAC-leading total to 17 long balls on the season.
 
Arizona Christian (32-21 overall, 7-7 GSAC) then increased their four-run lead to five with a solo shot. Master's (28-17, 6-8) scored three runs in the bottom-half of the sixth to get to within two, after Tuttle hit a two-run single and Bricker scored on a wild pitch. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, the home side was unable to score again the following inning, resulting in a split on the day.
 
The loss eliminated TMU's chances of potentially earning a share of the GSAC East Division crown, while Arizona Christian's victory kept its division title hopes alive, with the Firestorm needing two wins on Saturday to tie OUAZ (20-21, 9-7) atop the division.
 
First pitch of Saturday's doubleheader, which will conclude the 2021 regular season, is scheduled for 11 a.m.