GREENVILLE, Ill. - Westminster baseball was eliminated from the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Friday with a loss to Greenville.
After a scoreless first, Greenville opened the scoring in the second by posting seven runs, putting Westminster down 7-0 after two innings.
The Blue Jays held the Panthers in the third, but in the fourth and fifth they continued to add to their lead, adding seven more runs for a 14-0 score.
In the bottom of the fifth, Westminster started its comeback. Nick Bohlmann reached base on a double to right field, which was followed up by Blake Strebler's sixth home run of the year to make the score 14-2 after five.
In the sixth, Brandon Beeler hit a single to reach and Zach Eisenreich and Ryan Klimkiewicz both walked to load the bases for Adam Mundle, who hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Beeler.
The Panthers added three more runs to their lead in the seventh, but Westminster answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning on two solo home runs, one from Ryan Clavin and one from Zach Stiles, his first of the year, to make the score 17-5.
Each team added another run in the eighth, including Klimkiewicz hitting a solo shot to center field, making the score 18-6 with one inning remaining.
After holding the Panthers in the top of the ninth, Westminster put up three runs in an attempt to overcome the 12-run deficit. Blake Strebler added his second home run of the day, a solo shot, followed by another solo home run from Mason Price.
Jackson Berger reached on a single with two outs, and Eisenreich and Trevor Rhoads were both walked to load the bases with Westminster down to its final out. Mundle stepped up to the plate and drew an RBI walk to make the score 18-9, but the game ended on a groundout from Bohlmann.
Alex Dickneite took the loss for Westminster, but the squad used a total of six pitchers in the game including Braden Beasley, Andrew Boessen, Sean Markley, Skyler Dickneite, and Clavin.
The Blue Jays finish the season 20-15, the sixth straight season of 20-plus wins.
