Sauget, Ill., March 30, 2021 – The Westminster College Blue Jays baseball team came into Tuesdays double header with nationally ranked Webster University running on fumes. Injuries and a tightly contested four game weekend series had the Jays down to a bare number of pitchers for their showdown with the highly regarded Gorloks. The Jays dug deep and got some great contributions from all over to win game one 8-3 before Webster would come from behind to take game two 6-3.
Game One: BOXSCORE
In game one the Blue Jays would turn to freshman Nathan Sheppard to try to subdue the Gorloks. This would mark Sheppard's collegiate debut. The game was scheduled for 7 innings.
The Blue Jays would get on the board first in the top of the first inning. The first three Blue Jay batters would walk to load the bases. Webster would change pitchers. Derek Shikles would then ground into a double play as Bryce McKinnon would come in to score the first run. Coltin Green would then ground a ball to third base and the fielder was not able to field it and Payton Whitehead would score for a 2-0 Westminster lead.
The Gorloks would get a run back in the second and the Jays would lead 2-1 going into the third inning. Hunter Mulholland would deliver the big blow with a two-run double that scored Green and Hayden Hirschvogal to make it 4-1.
The Blue Jays would tack on insurance runs in the fifth. Mulholland would reach base on a fielder's choice. Then Parker Schnieders would hit a two-run home run to give the Blue Jays a 6-1 lead. Mulholland and Austin Mayton would add RBI singles in the sixth and seventh innings for the final score of 8-3 in Favor of the Blue Jays.
Sheppard would grind his way through three innings giving up two hits, one run and striking out one while walking four. Trent Morrow(1-0) would then enter the game and work two scoreless innings giving up just one hit and walking just one and would be credited with the win. Jacob Waelterman would come in for Morrow in the sixth inning and give up two runs on one hit and one walk before getting out of the inning. Senior Andrew Boessen would come on in the seventh and shut the door on the Gorloks.
Head Coach Zach Bishop had this to say about his teams big win, "The bats came out ready to go. Some timely hitting and a two-run homer from Schnieders helped us get there." He added, "Nathan Shepard made his career debut and battled to eat some innings."
Game Two: BOXSCORE
Game two saw the Westminster bats come early to the party again. In the second inning, Mulholland singled runners into scoring position and Schnieders would come through with an RBI single. Later in the inning Steven Diaz would drive in a run with a sacrifice fly. The Jays would lead 2-0.
Blue Jay starter junior Jayme Bertish would cruise through the first three innings keeping the Webster offense in check. He got into a little trouble in the fourth but worked out of it only giving up one run.
The fifth inning is where things started to go south. The Gorloks would score five runs on four hits and one error in the inning against Bertish (0-1) to open up a 6-2 lead. The Blue Jays would score one more run in the top of the ninth inning on a Austin Mayton RBI single for the final run count of 6-3 in favor of Webster. The loss drops the Blue Jay record to 9-6 overall and 6-6 in the SLIAC. The Blue Jays will be back in action Friday April 2nd when they travel to Dubuque for a non-conference double header.
