Junior right-hander Russell Harmening allowed just two hits in eight innings as Westmont Baseball (10-2, 5-2 GSAC) shut out William Jessup (2-5, 2-5) in a Golden State Athletic Conference game at Russ Carr Field.
After Jessup Anthony Santiago hit a bloop double in the first inning that fell between three Westmont defenders, Harmening retired the next 16 batters that he faced. William Jessup did not have another baserunner until the top of the sixth when Rory Peterson reached on an error.
The only other baserunner allowed by Harmening was in the top of the eighth inning when Fermin Beza knocked a ground ball between short and third. Harmening struck out five without allowing a walk.
While Harmening was taking care of business on the mound, Westmont bats went to work building a Warrior lead. The Warriors tallied 12 hits and benefited from six walks, four errors and a hit batsman.
With two away in the bottom of the first, Will Barring delivered a solo home run down the left field line. Home plate umpire Mike Bennett originally ruled the ball foul, but after conferring with field umpire David Shedlock, reversed his call and awarded the home run.
Graylin Derke led off the bottom of the second inning with an infield single before Rudy Leon reached on an error that allowed Derke to take third and Leon to advance to second. Two outs later, Alex Bush walked, bringing Barring to the plate. Barring drove a single through the right side to score both Derke and Leon. Blake Matthias then singled to right to allow Bush to score from third.
Westmont added two more runs in the third inning. The first came from a lead-off home run by Alex Bush. Derke followed Bush with a single through the right side and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. One out later, Derke took third base on a deep fly out to center field by Zach DeMarcus. Westmont’s third baseman then scored on a wild pitch.
In the sixth inning, Ryan Crowe received a walk with one away and then yielded the bag to courtesy runner Ryan Beveridge. On a single by Bush, Beveridge took third while Bush advanced to second on the play at third. Barring then grounded out to second, allowing Beveridge to score and Bush to move over 90 feet to third. Bush later scored on a single to left field by Michael Pollex.
Westmont produced its final two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Leon was walked to start the inning and one out later stole second base. A single through the left side by Crowe moved Leon to second and once again, Beveridge came in as a courtesy runner for Crowe. Alex Bush was then hit by a pitch to load the bases with one away.
Barring then hit a ground ball which was fielded by the shortstop who stepped on second to retire Bush. However, his throw to first was errant allowing not only Leon to score, but also Beveridge.
With the win, Westmont moves into a tie for first place in the GSAC standings with Concordia and The Master’s. Concordia lost today to Biola 7-5 while The Master’s defeated San Diego Christian 6-0 behind Jason Karkenny’s perfect game.
