The Master's baseball team split a pair of games Friday with the Westcliff Warriors at Lou Herwaldt Stadium.
Game 1
The Mustangs struggled to get hits and baserunners as the Warriors took game one 9-1.
TMU didn't push a run across until the bottom of the ninth while getting just six base hits, and two of those hits came in the final inning.
Westcliff starting pitcher Eddie Rios kept the Mustangs bats off balance in his 6.0 innings of work. He gave up just four hits while striking out seven and issuing no walks.
"We really didn't have very good approaches off (Rios)," TMU Head Coach
Monte Brooks said. "He exposed our weaknesses and made us chase his pitches. So we got out of our element."
The Warriors scored one in the second, three in the third, one in the sixth, three in the seventh and one more in the eighth to go up 9-0. They banged out 16 hits against TMU pitching.
The Master's arms struck out five and walked four while also hitting a pair of batters.
"We missed some spots we were trying to hit and they capitalized on it," Brooks said. "It wasn't like we walked the world or anything like that, but we didn't command the baseball to get weaker contact."
Freshman
Jack Drew went 2 for 4 with an RBI in his first collegiate action. His single to center scored Zach Jenkins for the Mustangs lone run of the game.
Game 2
The Master's erupted for six runs in the bottom of the sixth to come from behind and win the second game 7-3 over Westcliff.
The 7-inning game saw the Mustangs (4-2) bang out 10 hits, with seven of those hits coming in the 6-run sixth inning.
"Seeing their pitcher the third time around and (our hitters) were a little more patient," Brooks said. "We talked about patience with them... and we got the base hit after base hit after base hit. So, it's good to see us battle."
Westcliff scored two in the first inning while the Mustangs offense continued to stay quiet. But in the bottom of the fourth inning,
Isaiah Morales led off with a double to left-center followed by a
Ty Beck single to right that advanced Morales to third. Zach Jenkins then laid down a sac bunt that scored Morales.
After the Warriors added another run in the top of the fifth to make it 3-1, the stage was set for the big sixth inning.
Morales finished 3 for 4 with two RBIs and a run scored, while Beck went 2 for 4.
Dylan Tagiuam also added a pair of RBIs on a 1 for 2 day at the plate, with
Austin Young,
Jack Drew,
Tommy Gwinn and
Owen Payn also getting base hits.
James Coker got his first win as a Mustang after pitching 6.0 innings, giving up three runs (two earned), striking out four and walking two.
Emilio Morales pitched the final inning to preserve the win.
The Master's will be back on the diamond at Lou Herwaldt Stadium Saturday as they host the Oregon Tech Owls for a single game. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m.
