Filos deals but Mustangs fall in GSAC Tournament opener

Zachary Filos was dealing on the mound for TMU Baseball in the opening game of the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament against No. 6 Westmont College.
 
Unfortunately for the Mustangs, so was Bryan Peck for the Warriors.
 
Filos pitched eight innings of two-run ball, but fifth-seeded Master's only managed a single run off Peck and second-seeded Westmont in a 2-1 loss.
 
"We had good at-bats but we didn't string them together," center fielder Will Batz said. "Our defense and pitching were good, we just need to hit."
 
Peck had a no-hitter through eight innings, with only three runners reaching base – two via errors and one because of a walk.
 
"He pitched to his game and we fell into his trap," Master's Head Coach Monte Brooks said of Westmont's pitcher. "We weren't patient to our zone. We chased pitches and allowed him to get outs.
 
"That's been a downfall all year for us. If you look at our hitters who have been consistent, they are patient and small-zone hitters."
 
Master's got a little more patient at the plate late in the game, with Will Batz walking in the sixth to become the first Mustang to reach base not because of an error.
 
Batz then broke up Peck's no-hitter with a double down the right-field line to lead off the ninth.
 
"I had a good at-bat the one before when I walked, so I'd seen a lot of pitches," Batz said. "I took the first pitch and was almost about to swing. I was just trying to hit something hard and get a strike that I could hit."
 
Batz then advanced to third on Evan Banks' ground out before scoring TMU's only run of the game on a two-out RBI-single from Miles Henderson.


 
"He was deep in his pitch count and I knew he wasn't going to come with all strikes, so I was just waiting for a good pitch," Henderson said. "I got a 3-2 count and he just left a fastball over the middle."
 
Brayden Luft came on as a courtesy runner for Henderson, who represented the tying run on  first. With Cason Brownell at the plate, the speedy Luft attempted to steal second.
 
While Luft was on the move, Brownell hit a hard grounder up the middle that would've likely been a hit if the second baseman wasn't already moving toward the bag.
 
"We were stealing there to try and get in scoring position, and the second baseman covered, otherwise that would've been a hit," Brooks said.
 
Despite having his no-hitter and shutout spoiled, Peck remained in the game to finish off a two-hit, complete-game.
 
"He mixed well and had a changeup that looked like his fastball but had a lot of sink," Batz said of Peck. "He was able to exploit us with that."
 
Peck's outing overshadowed what was an impressive showing from Filos, who kept the Mustangs in the game despite TMU's lack of offensive production.
 
"His slider was really good today. His fastball was on and he was locating really well," Henderson said of the Mustang starter. "He did his job; we just didn't do ours."
 
Batz added of Filos: "In center field I have a pretty good view of everything he's doing. He had the ball on a string and was pulling it out from under their bats."
 
Besides a couple diving catches from Banks out in left field, helping Filos' cause was a good command of the strike zone.
 
"I was feeling good throwing strikes," Filos said. "I was just trying to get ahead of guys and get some outs. It was working pretty well."
 
The Warriors scored first in the third after three singles and then added another in the fifth on a sacrifice fly.
 
Westmont also threatened to add a run in the fourth, but Master's drew up a trick play that helped Filos get out of a jam with runners on first and third.
 
With the Warriors attempting to steal second, TMU catcher Davis Beavers pretended to try and throw the runner out, as Filos ducked on the mound to avoid the throw. But Filos stuck his glove up to snag Beavers' throw and catch the runner in a pickle to record the final out of the inning.
 
That play appeared to give the Mustangs some momentum, but they weren't able to get much going offensively until the final inning, at which point it proved to be too little too late.
 
With the loss, Master's (29-23 overall) is now in the loser's bracket of the double-elimination tournament and will take on sixth-seeded William Jessup University (25-25) at 10 a.m. on Tuesday in an elimination game.
 
"We lost a game but luckily we're still in it," Henderson said. "By the Lord's grace we have another chance, so let's go win some more."