Mustangs split doubleheader with Westmont

The Master's University baseball team dropped the morning opener but came back with a shutout in game two to split a doubleheader with No. 11 Westmont Saturday at Lou Herwaldt Stadium.
 
The day started by honoring seven athletes playing in their final home game in a Mustangs uniform: Evan Banks, Aren Gustafson, Trevor Hoff, Mason Madalinski, Jojo Penberthy, Nelson Schutte and Cade Walker.
 
Game One
 
Despite falling behind early, the Mustangs (27-13, 11-10 GSAC) fought hard to get back into the game, only to eventually fall short 14-9.
 
The Warriors scored in seven of the nine innings, with five of those innings posting crooked numbers.
 
After giving up two in the top of the first, TMU bounced back to score three to grab the lead. Ty Beck's double to left scored Evan Banks, and then Miles Henderson's double to right-center scored Beck and Ryan Mathiesen. Westmont grabbed the lead back scoring two runs in the second, only to see Banks crack a single to left to score Tyler Grodell in the home half of the inning to tie it at 4-4.
 
Westmont got another run in the third and then scored four more in the fourth and two in the sixth to seemingly out the game out of reach 11-4.
 
But in the bottom of the sixth, the Mustangs responded with four to close the gap to 11-8. The big hit a Banks two-run double to left to score Grodell and Cason Brownell.
 
But the Warriors' offense kept swinging, adding two in the seventh and another in the eighth. And while The Master's got another run in the eighth, it was not enough to overcome the five-run lead.
 
Banks finished the game 3-for-5 with three RBIs and a run. Both Henderson and Will Batz had two hits and two RBIs apiece.
 
Ian Mortensen takes the loss after getting the start and going 3.0 innings, allowing eight earned runs on eight hits. He was followed by Cale Mathison, Jojo Penberthy and Nelson Schutte.
 
Game Two
 
In what came down to a pitcher's battle, it was The Master's J.T. Friesen who won the battle as the Mustangs shut out the Warriors 2-0.
 
Friesen went 6.0 innings of the seven-inning game, allowing no runs on just two hits and striking out five. Ryan Mathiesen got the save as he pitched a perfect seventh.
 
"He commanded the baseball throughout the game," Head Coach Monte Brooks said. "We needed him to do that and he fulfilled that role and came up big for the team. And then to have Ryan close it out for the shutout was really big."
 
The Mustangs' offense was primarily powered by Austin Young as his single to right in the third scored Will Batz and his single to right in the fifth scored Owen Payn. Young finished the game 3-for-3 with the two RBIs.
 
But the day belonged to Friesen as he held a team that averages nearly nine hits a game and has a team batting average of .281 to just two singles.
 
Despite losing two out of three to the Warriors in the series, The Master's is tied for fourth in the GSAC going into next weekend's final three games of the season at Jessup University. Should the Mustangs win just one of the three, they are a lock for the conference tournament. But as Coach Brooks pointed out, there is more on the line with these three games.
 
"We could host the first game of the tournament, plus we need as many wins as we can get to get an at-large berth into the NAIA tournament," Brooks said. "So all three of these games are huge for us."