FULTON, Mo. – The Westminster College baseball team split a doubleheader with Simpson College on Sunday, dropping the first game 15-2 and winning the second game 11-4. The Blue Jays finish the series with Simpson with a record of 3-1 to improve to 6-6 on the season.
In the first game, the Storm scored two runs in both the first and second innings and a run in the third to take a 5-0 lead. Simpson held the Blue Jays hitless for the first 3.1 innings until Ryan Clavin launched a solo homer to end the shutout. The Storm added another run in the fifth and put the game out of reach with a nine-run, seven-hit sixth inning. In the bottom half of the inning, Clavin drove in his second run of the game with an infield single.
Josh Weaver took the loss for the Blue Jays, allowing six runs (five earned) over five innings.
The Storm scored a run in the top of the first to open game two of the doubleheader. In the bottom half of the inning, Trevor Rhoads walked with the bases loaded to tie the game 1-1. After Rhoads' walk, Parker Schnieders belted his first career home run over the right-field fence to put the Blue Jays up 5-1. Westminster scored one more run before the inning came to an end to go up 6-1. The Storm cut the lead to 6-2 in the second before Rhoads drove in a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning.
Simpson scored again in the third but again the Blue Jays were able to build on to their lead at the bottom of the inning. This time Clavin crushed a home run to right field that plated Bryce McKinnon and Michael Skinner to give the Blue Jays an 11-3 lead.
Clavin, Will Stonecipher, and Skinner each tallied two hits for the Blue Jays. Skinner and Rhoads were the only Blue Jays to record hits in each game of the four-game series. Skinner went 6-10 in the series with three RBIs while Rhoads went 5-11 and drove in five runs.
Jayme Bertish made his first career start on the mound and earned the win after allowing three runs (two earned) over five innings. Andrew Boessen threw the final two innings and struck out three batters. Boessen threw a total of five innings out of the bullpen in the series, allowing just a single run.
Up next the Blue Jays play a again on Wednesday against Robert Morris-Peoria at Lenz Field in Jacksonville, Ill.
