SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Chaminade University baseball team opened their four-game series against nationally ranked Westmont College on Saturday, dropping both games of the doubleheader, 3-1 and 6-2, at Russell Carr Field.
In both games, the Silverswords held leads heading into the second-to-last inning before the Warriors mounted rallies, thanks to the long ball.
Chaminade fell to 3-6 overall and 2-4 in the Pacific West Conference. Westmont, ranked No. 16 in the NCBWA (National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association) Media Poll, ran its winning streak to 10 straight, improving to 11-2 and 6-0 in the conference.
Game 1: WC 3, CUH 1
A scoreless game through four innings,
Jackson Dorn (Happy Valley, Ore./Mt. Hood CC/Clackamas HS) led off the top of the fifth on an infield single. A wild pitch and a
Cade Fujii (Kapolei, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Porterville College/Kapolei HS) sacrifice bunt later,
Trysten Mooney (Helena, Mont./Wenatchee Valley College/Capital HS) plated Dorn on a ground out for the game's first run.
Meanwhile, starter
Anthony O'Canas (Woodland, Calif./American River College/Woodland HS) was in an early groove, retiring 13 of the first 14 batters he faced. The only base runner that reached was via a second-inning error but lost his no-hit bid with two outs in the fifth on a single.
The 'Swords maintained a 1-0 lead until the bottom of eighth when the first five Warrior batters reached, tying the game on a single to left then taking the lead on a two-run homer by Daniel Patterson that snuck just inside the leftfield foul pole.
Alex Greb's (Seattle/Wenatchee Valley College/Ballard HS) third hit of the game put the tying run at the plate in the ninth but Chaminade was not able to extend the game.
O'Cañas went seven innings, allowing four hits with three strikeouts in a no-decision.
Joseph Perez (Goodyear, Ariz./Glendale CC/Verrado HS) was charged with the loss.
Aydan Lobetos (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Kapalama) joined Greb with multi-hits.
Caden Beloian picked up the win for Westmont while Zach Yates got the save.
Game 2: WC 6, CUH 2
The seven-inning nightcap was practically a mirror image of the opener. Chaminade jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to a second-inning wild pitch that plated
Ace Perry (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/University), followed by Fujii's RBI single in the fourth.
Like O'Cañas in the opener, second game starter
Mac Zawistoski (Coto de Caza, Calif./JSerra Catholic) retired 13 of the first 14 batters he faced with only a walk in the first but a one-out single in the fifth ended his chances for a no-hitter.
And like the opener, the Warriors' bats came to life in the second-to-final inning. Patterson homered for the second time in the day to get Westmont on the board in the sixth then two batters later, Bryce McFeely hit a two-run homer to put them up, 3-2. The home team added three more runs in the frame to finish the scoring.
Zawistoski suffered the hard-luck loss. Greb had two more hits for his second straight multi-hit game.
Ryan Humphreys earned the win for Westmont.
The Silverswords wrap up their road trip on Saturday with the finale of the four-game series against Westmont with a nine- and seven-inning doubleheader which begins at 9 a.m. Hawai'i time.
