In the first game at Russ Carr Field in a month, Westmont Baseball was run through by the Lancers of California Baptist (15-5, 4-1 GSAC) on Wednesday afternoon. The Warriors (5-8, 1-2 GSAC) left 11 men on base – six of which where in scoring position – in the 10-4 loss.
“Cal Baptist did a good job capitalizing on our mistakes on the mound. We didn’t do that offensively,” said Westmont Head Coach Robert Ruiz. “Their pitcher put himself in a few jams by walking a couple of guys in some critical situations. Offensively, we didn’t pull the trigger and take advantage of it. That was a big difference maker in the ball game.”
Jacob Regalado (0-2) took the loss for the Warriors. He pitched five and two-third innings, giving up seven runs on nine hits. Regalado walked two and struck out two. The win was credited to Taylor Siemens (6-0) who pitched six innings and allowed three runs on seven hits. He walked four and struck out four.
Cal Baptist picked up three runs in the top of the third inning off of three singles and a walk. Westmont recovered two of those runs in the bottom of the fourth. After designated hitter Tim Leary was walked to lead off the inning, first baseman Colten Christianson singled up the middle to move Leary over to second.
Left fielder Geoff Rocha attempted a sacrifice bunt, but Siemens was able to field the ball quickly and fire to third. Unfortunately for him, he fired too high, pulling third baseman Bill Sharp off the bag and filling the sacks with Warriors with no outs showing on the scoreboard.
The Warriors first run came on a ground ball by catcher Mark Magdaleno which Sharp failed to field cleanly. Leary scored and the bases remained full. Westmont third baseman Chris Ramirez drove in Christianson from third with a sacrifice fly to right field.
But the Warriors hopes of pulling ahead vanished when second baseman Evan Wadginski grounded into a 3-6-3 double play.
A home run by Sharp made it a 4-2 game in the top of the fifth inning but the big blow came in the top of the sixth when the Lancers scored four times after Westmont retired the first two batters. After designated hitter Matt Daughter reached on a single up the middle, center fielder Matt Johnson delivered an RBI-triple to left center.
Shortstop Garrett Rau was walked and Regalado was replaced on the hill by Chris Plance. Sharp, the first batter Plance faced, delivered his second home run in as many innings to make it an 8-2 game. Plance would go on to retire the next seven batters he faced before being lifted for David Stott in the ninth.
The Warriors picked up one run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI-single by center fielder Terrell Wong. Westmont’s final run came in the bottom of the seventh. Shortstop Jordan Bottenfield led of the inning with a double to left field, his third hit of the game. Leary sent a shot to right field which should have been caught, but the Lancers’ Drew Madrigal miss played the ball which got away from him and allowed Bottenfield to score.
Cal Baptist’s added two more runs in the top of the ninth on a home run to left by Zach Hedges.
The two teams will play the second of the four game series on Thursday at Russ Carr Field beginning at two o’clock. A doubleheader in Riverside is planned for Saturday.
