Mustangs 'slam" to victory in Game 1; Second game called due to darkness

Box Score Mikey Murr hit a grand slam in the bottom of the first to highlight an 8-run inning and propel The Master's to a 20-8 win over the Westcliff Warriors Saturday in game one of a scheduled doubleheader at Lou Herwaldt Stadium.

Game two had to be halted due to darkness.

Game 1

An overflowing capacity crowd got to witness Murr's first-inning heroics. His grand slam was the first collegiate home run for the freshman from West Ranch High School in Santa Clarita, Calif.

And the Mustangs (1-1) needed it as they spotted Westcliff six runs in the top of the first.

TMU followed the 8-run first with another six in the bottom of the second, three in the fourth, one in the sixth and finally two in the eighth.

The Warriors added two more in the top of the ninth to make the final 20-8.

Westcliff started the game looking like they were ready to make it a blowout. Of the six runs scored in the top of the inning, four came off a grand slam from Nick Malvini.

But Master's responded in the bottom half of the inning when Scotty Pieper's double to left scored Ty Beck. Cole Rohlmeier then singled to left to score Isaiah Morales and send Pieper to third. Jack Drew walked after Rohlmeier stole second to load the bases.

Zach Jenkins then worked a walk to score Pieper from third and keep the bases loaded. Two batters later, Dylan Taguiam was hit by a pitch, scoring Rohlmeier. 

That's when Murr, the No. 9 hitter, blasted his grand slam over the right field fence to give the Mustangs the lead they would never relinquish.

Fourteen runs scored in that first inning, which lasted 53 minutes.

Gage Webster, who had come on in relief in that first inning, faced the minimum three batters to get his team back to the plate.

With two outs and the bases empty in the bottom of the second, Drew worked his second walk of the game followed by a Jenkins single. Korbin Hodgson then singled to center to score Drew and move Jenkins to third. Hodgson stole second and then Tagiuam was hit by a pitch to once again load the bases.

Beck then doubled to left to clear the bases. Isaiah Morales followed that with a double to score Beck, and The Master's completed the first two innings scoring 14 unanswered runs to lead 14-6.

In the bottom of the fourth and runners on second and third, Rohlmeier reached on an error to score Beck. Drew then singled to center to score Morales. Rohlmeier scored on a passed ball to make it 17-6 TMU.

In the bottom of the sixth, Pieper walked, Rohlmeier singled and Drew reached on a fielder's choice, putting Pieper on third with one out. Jenkins groundout to first scored Pieper to put the Mustangs up 18-6.

Two innings later, a Mack Skeels walk with the bases loaded scored Matt Lloyd, and a Ryder Fritz-Smith single brought in Zac Heefner to complete the scoring for The Master's.

Beck finished 3 for 5 with three RBI and three runs scored. Morales was 3 for six with an RBI and two runs, while both Rohlmeier and Jenkins tallied a pair of hits, a pair of runs and a pair of RBIs.

All nine spots in The Master's lineup produced at least one hit in the game to finish with 16 hits.

Webster got the win on the bump as he went 3.1 innings, giving up no runs on just two hits. Luke Scott pitched a flawless 2.0 innings, Manny Herrera had 2.0 scoreless, and Matt Chapman finished off the game in the ninth.

Game 2

The second game of the doubleheader got a late start after the first game last 3:33.

Because of that, the game was halted going into the top of the seventh inning due to darkness. The game will be finished on March 31 when the two teams meet again in Irvine for a scheduled game. Master's is leading this game 3-2.

The Mustangs scored all three of their runs in the bottom of the first. With nobody out, Rohlmeier's bases-loaded single scored Murr. Two batters later, Jenkins walked to plate Beck, which was followed by a Pieper groundout that scored Morales.

The Warriors scored one in the second and one in the fifth to make it 3-2.

James Coker started on the mound for TMU, going 3.2 innings, giving up one earned run on four hits and striking out two. Rob York followed with 1.0 innings, Emilio Morales worked 0.2 scoreless as did Mikey Murr.