Fulton, Mo 3/3/2023- The Westminster College baseball team hosted the Grinnell College Pioneers for a 4-game series over the weekend. There was some great baseball played at Saucier Field, with 3 of the 4 games coming down to the final inning. When the dust settled, the Blue Jays walked away with a 3-1 series win. They would win game 1, 5-4 on a walk-off in the bottom of the ninth. In game 2, Westminster jumped out to a big 11-1 lead only for the Pioneers to score 8 runs late to make it close but the Blue Jays held on for the 11-9 win. In game 3 on Sunday, Westminster would win another close game 13-12 and in game 4, Grinnell would avoid the sweep, winning 11-4. 

Game 1: Box Score 

• The Blue Jays had their ace, Derek Archer, on the mound for game 1. He would go six innings and third, giving up 4 runs on 7 hits and striking out nine batters. 

• Grinnell took a 4-3 lead into the late innings. 

• Westminster would score in the bottom of the eighth to tie it 3-3 after Austin Mayton drove in Payton Whitehead with a single to center field. 

• Freshman outfielder Aden Pecka would walk it off with a single to right center field to score Trent Rueckert and the game-winning run. 

• Ryan Mills would get the win out of the bullpen after pitching the top of the ninth. He would strike out one batter. 

Inside the Box Score: 

Keli'I Price: 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 R 

Payton Whitehead: 1-3, 1 RBI, 2 R 

Jason Pesold: 1-3, 1 RBI, 1 2B 

Aden Pecka: 1-4, game-winning RBI 

Game 2: Box Score 

• Bode Gebbink would put the Pioneers down 1,2,3 to start the game in the top of the first. He would go on to pitch five innings and a third. He would give up 5 runs on 7 hits, walked 3, and struck out three. 

• The Blue Jay offense rode the momentum from the walk-off in game 1, hitting back-to-back home runs to start the game. Troy Romero started the game hitting a solo shot to right center field and Payton Whitehead followed suit with a home run to dead center field. Westminster would score 5 runs in the bottom of the first inning. Westminster would score 5 more runs in the bottom of the 4th to make it 10-1, giving plenty of run support for their senior starting pitcher. 

• Westminster would let off the gas pedal and allowed Grinnell to crawl back into it, giving up 4 runs in the top of the 6th and 4 more in the top of the 7th to make 11-9 in the scheduled 7-inning game. 

• Ryan Mills would come in the top of the 7th after the Pioneers had already scored 4 runs and had a runner on first. Mills would hit the first batter he faced to put runners on second and first, with the Blue Jays leading 11-9. Mills would get a ground ball and the Jays would get the lead runner out at third base. Mills then struck out the next batter to end the game and give him his first save of the season. 

Inside the Box Score: 

Jason Pesold: 3-3, 2 RBI, 1 R 

Troy Romero: 2-3, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 HR 

Aden Pecka: 2-4, 1 RBI, 2 R, 1 HR 

Payton Whitehead: 1-4, 1 RBI, 2 R, 1 HR 

Game 3: Box Score 

• Grinnell jumped all over Kaleb Hinkle-Pruett, who started game 3 for the Blue Jays. The Pioneers would score 4 runs in the top of the first. They would score 2 more runs in the top of the second,1 run in the top of the third and fourth to take an 8-1 lead. 

• Hinkle-Pruett pitched three innings, giving up 7 runs on 8 hits and striking out two batters. 

• The Blue Jays would score 2 runs in the bottom of the 4th to make it 8-3. 

• Westminster's bats would come alive in the bottom of the 6th, stringing together three straight base runners to load the bases. Freshman Aden Pecka stepped to the plate and hit a grand slam to right center field to make it 9-7 and all of a sudden, the Blue Jays were right back in it. Chris Louie would hit a double to center in the next at-bat and Donovan Bohler tied it with a rocket over the right field fence. Troy Romero and Payton Whitehead both singled to put runners on second and first. Keli'I Price delivered an RBI single to left field to put Westminster on top 10-9 after being down 8-1. 

• Grinnell scored a run in both the top of the 7th and 8th to regain the lead 11-10 

• Chris Louie hit a leadoff double in the bottom of the 8th, his second of the game. Donovan Bohler drew a walk. Troy Romero hit an RBI single up the middle to score Louie. Payton Whitehead followed with an RBI single to left field to score Bohler to give Westminster the 12-11 lead. Keli'I Price hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Romero and added an insurance run to make it 13-11. 

• In the top of the ninth, the man of the weekend, Ryan Mills, was back on the mound after pitching in the eighth inning. The Pioneer leadoff man would reach base after an error. Mills then struck out the next batter and got a ground out to third for the second out of the inning. Grinnell would hit an RBI single up the middle to make it 13-12. Mills then got a fly out to left field to end the game and picked up his second win of the weekend. 

Inside the Box Score: 

Troy Romero: 3-5, 1 RBI, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 2B 

Austin Mayton: 3-5, 3 R, 2B 

Keli'I Price: 2-4, 3 RBI, 1 R, 1 HR  

Donovan Bohler: 1-3, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 HR 

Aden Pecka: 1-4, 4 RBI, 1 R, 1 HR 

Game 4: Box Score 

• Grinnell was looking to avoid the sweep and jumped out to a quick 11-0 lead. 

• The Blue Jays would score 4 runs in the bottom of the 5th to try to mount a comeback but would run out of gas. Troy Romero hit a leadoff home run to right center. The Blue Jays would score two runs because of a couple of errors by the Grinnell defense. Chris Louie hit an RBI single down the left-field line. 

• The Pioneers won the game 11-4. 

• Ben Kennebeck got the start in game 4 and pitched two and two-thirds innings, giving up 8 runs on 5 hits. 

Inside the Box Score: 

Payton Whitehead: 2-2, 1 R 

Austin Mayton: 2-2, 1 R 

Troy Romero: 1-3, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 HR 

Chris Louie: 1-4, 1 RBI 

The Blue Jays will be back in action next weekend for a 3-game series against the Transylvania University Pioneers in Lexington, Kentucky. They have scheduled the first pitch for game 1 at 11:00 am on Saturday, March 9th.