The Westminster baseball team split their home-opening doubleheader with Augsburg College on Saturday, February 27. The Westminster Blue Jays won game one, 7-1, but dropped game two 12-3. The Blue Jays are now 2-3 on the season.
Game One
Augsburg led-off game one with a home run over the right field fence. Senior pitcher Deion Hughes struck out the next three batters, sending the game into the bottom of the inning, 1-0.
The Blue Jays put up three runs in the second inning to go up 3-1. Junior Tanner Branneky hit a sacrifice fly to right field, and senior Tyler Branneky tagged up and went home. Junior Nick Cessna was brought home with junior Nolan Bax's at bat, and sophomore Blake Strebler scored the final run of the inning off sophomore Adam Mundle's at bat.
Ty. Branneky led off the bottom of the third with a home run over the left field fence, giving the Blue Jays a 4-1 lead.
The Blue Jays added three more runs to the board in the bottom of the sixth. Junior Connor Hager hit a RBI single to left field, bringing in Bax. A double play gave the Blue Jays two outs, but Mundle scored on the play. Sophomore Nick Bohlmann scored the final run of the game off Cessna's double down the left field line.
Hughes (2-0) recorded the win from the mound. He pitched the complete game, struck out six and allowed just four hits and one run.
Cessna posted two hits and seven putouts.
Game Two
The Blue Jays began the scoring in game two in the bottom of the second. On the second at bat, Bohlmann hit a RBI single to right field, bringing in sophomore Adam Mundle. The Blue Jays were brought out of the inning with two stranded on base.
In the top of the fourth, Augsburg brought in two runs to take a 2-1 lead, but in the bottom of the sixth, the Blue Jays pulled back the lead. With one out, Hager hit a homer over the center field fence. It was followed by a home run by Ty. Branneky over the left field fence, giving the Blue Jays a 3-2 advantage.
In the top of the sixth, Augsburg scored an earned run and two unearned runs, taking a 5-3 lead. They added seven more runs in the eighth inning to win the game 12-3.
The Blue Jays finished with nine hits. Cessna recorded eight putouts while Bax finished with seven.
Senior Collin Brinker (0-1) was credited with the loss. He pitched seven innings and struck out six.
The Blue Jays complete the three-game series with Augsburg on Sunday, February 28, at 1:00 pm.
