The Master's baseball team got a split on the final day of the GSAC regular season Saturday, winning the first but dropping the second against the Jessup Warriors in Rocklin, Calif.
Game One
The Mustangs gave up five runs in the bottom of the first and were being shutout until the offense awoke in the top of the fourth inning to propel TMU to a 14-9 win.
The Master's (29-14, 13-11 GSAC) scored four in the fourth, three in the fifth and two in the sixth to take a 9-5 lead. But the Warriors added two more in the sixth and another two in the bottom of the eighth to tie it 9-9.
That set up a dramatic ninth inning as a lead-off double by
Miles Henderson sparked the Mustangs. Four more singles followed, giving the Mustangs five runs in the inning.
Ryan Mathiesen, who had come on to pitch in the eighth, set down all three Jessup batters in the bottom of the ninth to secure the win.
Cale Mathison got the start for The Master's, but gave up five earned runs on two hits, two walks and three hit batters in just 0.2 innings pitched.
Ian Mortensen relieved Mathison, pitching 6.1 innings and giving up two earned runs on four hits and striking out four.
Ryan Mathiesen got his third win of the season completing the final two innings of the game.
"Cale struggled in the first and we brought Ian in," said TMU Head Coach
Monte Brooks. "He was very efficient and got us back into the game."
Offensively, Henderson continued to swing a hot bat. The junior shortstop, who tied a program record with four home runs in Friday's game, went 4-for-6 with three doubles and three runs scored. Mathiesen stayed just as hot getting three hits, including his tenth home run of the season, and a team-high five RBIs. This followed a two-homer, six-RBI game Friday, giving him four round trippers and 13 RBIs in the last five games.
"Ryan has had an incredible year both offensively as well as pitching," Brooks said. "He's just had a remarkable year."
Will Batz,
Evan Banks and
Conor Christiansen had two hits each, spreading six RBIs between them.
Game Two
Once again Jessup jumped out to a quick lead in the bottom of the first with three runs, only this time The Master's could not complete the comeback, losing 4-2 in the seven-inning game.
J.T. Friesen started on the bump for the Mustangs, looking for his ninth win of the season. But the Warriors had other plans for the junior in the bottom of the first as a single and a hit batter set the table for a three-run homer by Kayde Iranon to give Jessup the early 3-0 lead.
But Friesen settled in, pitching a complete game (6.0 innings) and only giving up one more run on two hits and striking out five. But being on the short end of the score meant it was his first loss of the season.
"J.T. threw a solid game, a really good game," Brooks said. "And we were hitting balls hard but just right at people. We had our chances to break it open but just fell short."
The Mustangs tried to mount a comeback in the top of the seventh. With two outs and Mathiesen on second,
Cason Brownell doubled to left to make it 4-2. The next batter was
Tyler Grodell, who took the count to full, but he grounded out to short to end the game.
Offensively, Brownell was the star of game two. The junior second baseman finished the game 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Henderson completed his record-tying series going 1-for-3 with a walk in the final game. Over the three games, Henderson was 9-for-15 with four home runs, three doubles, seven runs scored and six RBIs.
Mathiesen had his third consecutive multi-hit game, finishing Saturday's second game 2-for-3 with a run scored. In the three-game series, Mathiesen was 9-for-13 with three home runs and 11 RBIs.
"Jessup is good, and a road trip like this was very fruitful," Brooks said. "We did a lot of really good things. I'm really proud of the guys."
The Master's will finish fourth in the GSAC behind Westmont, Hope International and Vanguard. The regular season will wrap for the Mustangs with a non-conference game against the Bethesda Flames on Thursday at La Palma Park in Anaheim, Calif.
