The Master's University baseball team won the season series against Park University Gilbert (AZ), but they split the doubleheader with a 20-13 win and a 10-9 loss at Tempe Diablo in Tempe, Ariz. Sunday afternoon.
The Mustangs' (17-5, 3-1) offense was unstoppable, as they collected 29 runs and four home runs through both games.
Junior shortstop Isaiah Morales, who currently has the best batting average this season, led the Mustangs offense with four hits in twelve at-bats (33.3%) while getting five RBIs and a home run through both games.
Graduate student second baseman Cason Brownell, senior center fielder Kobe Katayama, and junior first baseman Owen Hayes also recorded a home run in the doubleheader.
Graduate student pitcher Ethan Schmidt was called upon for relief in both games, marking a total of three appearances in a 48-hour span. He allowed four hits, four runs while getting three strikeouts in a combined 4.2 innings.
Game 1
The Mustangs offense went into overdrive, recording 15 runs in five innings to get ahead and claim the 20-13 win for Game 1.
A scoreless first inning made it appear that the game would be a tightly played affair until the Mustangs came out of the third inning with a 5-1 lead.
Junior pitcher Matt Chapman started for the Mustangs in Game 1, holding the Buccaneers (9-13, 1-3) to one run in four innings and allowing a total of eight hits and four runs while getting four strikeouts in 4.1 innings.
Ethan Schmidt came on in relief for the second time in 24 hours and left the mound with no hits or runs in 0.2 innings. But after Schmidt's efforts, the five pitchers that came on afterwards allowed nine runs.Â
Senior Michael Chung was the only pitcher to not allow a run in the last four innings, as he was awarded the win with one hit and four strikeouts in his 1.1 inning assignment. But the Mustangs were bailed out by the batters.
The Mustangs recorded 11 runs in the same four innings the Buccaneers got nine. Notably, Cason Brownell hit an inside the park homerun to get Owen Hayes and himself to home.Â
Junior Emilio Morales finished for the Mustangs in Game 1, holding an attempted Buccaneers comeback to one hit and one run in 1.1 innings.
Game 2
The Mustangs 10-9 loss in Game 2 was decided with extra innings, as a 9-game winning streak came to an end.
Junior pitcher Carson Knapp started for the Mustangs in Game 2, allowing four hits and four runs while throwing three strikeouts in 4.2 innings. All four of the runs he allowed came in the first two innings, where the Buccaneers held a 4-1 lead through two innings.
But after those four runs, Knapp only allowed two hits until the fifth inning. Ethan Schmidt came on in relief for the third time in the series and the second time in the doubleheader, continuing where Knapp left off. Meanwhile, the Mustangs offense mounted a comeback.
The Mustangs would collect four runs and take a 5-4 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh. But the Buccaneers got a run to tie the game and force extra innings.
The eighth inning was nervously quiet, with neither side breaking the stalemate. Then, in the top of the ninth, the Mustangs began swinging.
Isaiah Morales, Owen Hayes and Kobe Katayama all hit home runs, collecting four runs to take a 9-5 lead. The Mustangs now had three outs to win the game.
Schmidt easily collected two outs. But after allowing three walks to load the bases, sophomore Lucas DeSpain came on in relief, allowing a walk that cut the lead to three.Â
He then was relieved by junior Manuel Herrera, who would take the loss by allowing the four runs and giving the Buccaneers the win.
While the Mustangs lost the second game of the doubleheader, they currently sit in second of the GSAC standings. But they will need to prepare for their next conference opponent, who not only are first in the standings but are also No. 8 in the nation and are the defending NAIA World Series Champions.
Luckily for the Mustangs, they have home field advantage, as they will take on Hope International University (CA) in a doubleheader match-up at Lou Herwaldt Stadium on Friday, March 14. The first game starts at 11 a.m.
