For the second day in a row, The Master's baseball team swept a doubleheader against the Embry-Riddle Eagles, winning the first game 10-3 and the second game 5-3.
Ryan Mathiesen went 5-for-6 in the two games, with two home runs, two doubles, five RBI, and three runs scored.
"I'll tell you, we beat a very good club," said Head Coach
Monte Brooks. "(The Eagles's) starting pitchers are legit. Back-to-back days of doubleheaders really exposes your pitching depth, and we were able to take advantage of that getting to their bullpen."
Game 1
Despite being out-hit 9-5 in the game, The Master's took advantage of walks and hit batters with clutch hits to win 10-3.
Mathiesen started the scoring with a two-run bomb to left in the bottom of the third. After the Eagles scored three in the top of the fifth to take a 3-2 lead, it was Mathiesen again coming up big with a two-run double to left with the bases loaded to score
Tommy Gwinn and
Kobe Katayama.
Owen Payn then scored on a wild pitch to put TMU on top 5-3.
Three more runs were tacked on by the Mustangs in the bottom of the sixth when
Austin Young's double to left-center scored
Conor Christiansen and
Cason Brownell. Katayama then scored off a balk.
TMU added two more in the seventh when
Conor Christiansen grounded out with the bases loaded, scoring
Ty Beck, followed by a Katayama sacrifice fly to plate
Davis Beavers to make it 10-3.
Gage Webster started on the bump, going 4.2 innings and giving up three runs (all earned) on eight hits.
Nolan Inouye came on for 1.1 innings of hitless relief to get the win.
Ryan Shalkevich pitched a strong final 3.0 innings, allowing no runs on just one hit and striking out two.
"Shalkevich was great this weekend," Brooks said. "Mathiesen got it done these two days, and it was Gage (Webster's) best outing of the year. His change-up is down and he spotted his fastball a lot better than he did his first two games."
Game 2
The Master's (6-1) pounded four home runs out of their eight hits to defeat the Eagles 5-3 in the final game of the series.
In addition to Mathiesen's second of the day, Young, Henderson and Beck each hit balls out of the park to give the Mustangs 13 home runs in their first seven games.
It was Henderson's two-run home run to left in the bottom of the first that got this party started for TMU. It was the second dinger of the year for the four-year starting shortstop and 15th of his career.
Embry-Riddle answered in the top of the second with two runs of their own to tie the game at 2-2.
The score stayed that way until the bottom of the fifth when Young and Mathiesen hit back-to-back jacks over the right-center field fence to put The Master's up by two.
"Those are big-time players who need to make big-time plays," Brooks said of Young and Mathiesen. "We have to have them. Those two have to hit."
The Eagles got one back in the top of the sixth, but Beck's blast to deep right gave TMU the cushion they needed to win 5-3.
Cale Mathison got the start going 2.2 innings and allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits. He struck out three but walked four. He was followed by
Ethan Schmidt going 2.1 of shutout ball and allowing just two hits to get the win. Mathiesen pitched the final 2.0 innings of the seven-inning game to get his second save of the season.Â
Mathiesen leads the team with a .440 batting average, 1.493 OPS, three home runs, 11 RBI and 11 hits on the young season. He also has one of the two triples hit by the team this year.
This was the first time Embry-Riddle has come to Lou Herwaldt Stadium to play The Master's in baseball. The Eagles will be joining the GSAC next year, one of four new teams to come into the conference.
The Master's will start conference play next weekend when they travel to Costa Mesa to take on the Vanguard Lions in a three-game series. Friday's first game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. on Dean Harvey Field.
