Cole Rohlmeier and
Isaiah Morales collected seven hits and seven RBIs between them as The Master's defeated the Betheasda Lion Angels 13-2 Wednesday in Lou Herwaldt Stadium.
As a team the Mustangs (7-8) pounded out 15 hits and committed no errors on defense, more than enough to support starter Manny Herrera on the mound.
Herrera, who was battling a minor sickness, threw 6.0 innings and gave up two earned runs on six hits and struck out three to get his first win of the season.
"Manny held them and gave us opportunities to score runs," said TMU Head Coach
Monte Brooks.
Herrera has emerged as a starter in this his junior year, after getting one start in eight appearances and logging just 8.1 innings last season. This year he already has four starts in five appearances and doubled his innings pitched to 16.2.
"It's all about strikes," Coach Brooks said about Herrera's growth over last season. "And it's all about command. He's in better shape, he's more focused... he has good stuff. All he has to do is trust his stuff and be consistent and he'll really help us. I'm really happy how he's progressed this year."
Bethesda took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second, with the Mustangs not answering until the bottom of the third. A Morales single to right scored Rohlmeier to tie the game at 1-1. That was followed by a
Matt Lloyd single to bring in
Ty Beck followed by a
Mikey Murr single to plate Morales and give TMU a 3-1 lead.
Then in the fourth, Rohlmeier's double to left brought in
Scotty Pieper. Two batters later Morales knocked in Rohlmeier again to make it 5-1.
After a Lion Angels solo home run in the top of the fifth made it 3-2, Master's answered with six in the bottom half of the inning highlighted by Rohlmeier's first home run of the season brought in three. That was followed a few moments later by a 2-RBI single to center by
Jack Drew.
Master's added two more in the bottom of the seventh when Morales, for the third time in the game, singled to bring in Rohlmeier. Drew then hit a sac fly to center to score Beck and the Mustangs finished with the 13-2 win.
Michael Chung,
Tyler Biggs and
Danny Slaske all came on to pitch a scoreless inning for the Mustangs in relief of Herrera. For Chung, it was his first appearance since coming off the injured list.
"All those other players getting a chance to go out on the bump was great," Brooks said. "Seeing Michael (Chung) get his feet wet again was special."
Morales finished 4 for 5 with three RBI and two runs scored. Rohlmeier was 3 for 4 with the home run, two doubles, four RBI and four runs scored. Lloyd also finished with multiple hits in the game, going 2 for 5 with an RBI.
The two teams are scheduled to face each other again on Thursday for a 7-inning game scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. However, rain is in the forecast, so check the baseball schedule at GoMustangs.com to see if the game has been canceled due to weather before heading to the stadium.
