Westmont’s baseball team played the role of spoiler on Saturday by splitting a doubleheader at Point Loma.
The Warriors held on to win the second game, 5-4, to make Point Loma’s chances of repeating as GSAC champion difficult. The Sea Lions will have to sweep their four-game, regular season-ending series with Cal Baptist next week if they are to win the title. One Point Loma loss and the Lancers are the champions.
Point Loma won Saturday’s first game, 10-6. The Sea Lions scored in each of the first five innings, giving starter Chad Blauer plenty of run support. Westmont starter Gregg Pellici was hit for nine runs in 3 1/3 innings, seven of them earned.
Home runs by Allen Boyer and Tyler Kuehl helped the Sea Lions establish a 10-2 lead.
Westmont finished with 10 hits, three apiece from outfielders Coby Cress and Charles Whitman, who hit his first homer of the year in the loss.
The Warrior lineup got to Point Loma starter Robby Ross early on in game two, plating three runs in the first. Westmont loaded the bases, then got two RBI singles and scored another run on a Sea Lion throwing error. Ross then settled down and threw five strong innings.
Warriors’ starting pitcher Timothy Leary did his best to keep the Sea Lions’ hitters off balance, giving up just two runs through the first five frames. After a solo homer from Terrel Wong made the score 4-2 Warriors, Leary ran into some trouble in the bottom of the sixth.
Steve Winnick plated Kartch on a single and Alec Martinez doubled to the wall in right field to tie the game at four. Leary was replaced by Dan Price, who walked the first two batters, loading the bases with one out. The Sea Lions were unable to capitalize, as Kuehl flew out to score the runner from third. Price then struck out Jeff Fox on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning.
The Warriors loaded the bases with one out in the next inning, but they too failed to capitalize as PLNU reliever Davis Koenig induced an inning-ending double play. Westmont would plate the go-ahead run the next inning when Wong led off with a single and was eventually driven in on a sacrifice fly from Whitman.
Warrior reliever Pete McCarthy worked two scoreless innings to earn the win, improving the Warriors record to 8-24 in the GSAC, 12-31 overall.
