Baseball Losses Series With Greenville, 2-1

The Westminster baseball team won one game of the three-game conference series with Greenville College on Friday-Saturday, March 28-29. The Westminster Blue Jays played a nine inning game on Friday night and lost, 4-0. They played a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, winning the first 2-0 and dropping the second, 7-6. The Blue Jays are now 3-3 in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) play and 9-5 overall.

The Blue Jays grabbed five hits in the game one 4-0 shutout. Sophomore Will Miller (2-1) was credited with the loss. He pitched seven innings and struck out 12.

The first five innings of Saturday’s game one of the doubleheader went quickly with no runs scored.

In the top of the sixth, junior Tim Chambliss led-off with a walk and advanced to second with sacrifice bunt by sophomore Deion Hughes. Junior Tyler Branneky and senior Danton Hughes were walked, bringing bases loaded. Senior Jordan Allen pinched hit for freshman Tanner Branneky and doubled down the left field line, scoring Chambliss and Ty. Branneky.

The Blue Jays held Greenville from scoring in the sixth and seventh, shutting them out 2-0.

De. Hughes (4-0) pitched the complete game shutout. He struck out 11 and allowed only two hits. Ty. Branneky and Allen went 1-1 from the plate each. Allen had two RBI.

In the final game of the series, the Blue Jays headed into the fifth inning with a 3-0 deficit. Ty. Branneky led-off the fifth inning with a single to first base. Da. Hughes then singled to left field, moving Ty. Branneky to second. Allen reached on an error, making the bases loaded. Freshman Mike Washington singled to left field, scoring Ty. Branneky. Junior Cam Backes then singled, scoring Da. Hughes, and senior Andy Pichler reached on an error, scoring Allen and Washington and taking the 4-3 lead.

The Blue Jays added another run after Ty. Branneky scored off an error by Greenville’s second baseman in the top of the sixth. In the top of the seventh, Chambliss singled to left field, scoring Backes and taking a 6-3 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, Greenville hit a two run homerun, bringing the game to 6-5. They scored two more unearned runs in the bottom of the eighth. The Blue Jays were unable to score again, ending with a 7-6 loss.

Sophomore Collin Brinker (1-1) was credited with the loss. He pitched one inning and struck out one.

The Blue Jays finished with eight hits and three RBI. Da. Hughes went 2-3 from the plate. Ty. Branneky went 2-4 from the plate and scored two.

The Blue Jays will travel to Eureka, Illinois on April 5-6 for the three-game conference series with Eureka College. Eureka will host the doubleheader on Saturday, April 5, starting at 1:00 p.m. and the single nine-inning game on Sunday, April 6, starting at 1:00 p.m.