Baseball Season Comes To A Close On Senior Day

The Westminster baseball season came to a close after the three game conference series with Spalding University. The Westminster Blue Jays defeated the Spalding Golden Eagles 5-3 on Friday night, but the Golden Eagles swept the Blue Jays in the doubleheader, 4-1 and 6-5. The Blue Jays close out their season in fifth place in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) with a  15-12 record and a 21-14 overall record.

On Friday night, the Blue Jays took a 2-0 lead in the second when senior Ben Schwarz hit a two RBI double to score senior Danton Hughes and sophomore Ryan Loethen.

The Golden Eagles scored two in the fifth to tie the game at 2, but the Blue Jays put up three runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 5-2 lead. Junior Tim Chambliss hit a two RBI double to score junior Cam Backes and Schwarz. Sophomore Deion Hughes then hit a RBI single to score Chambliss.

The Golden Eagles scored a run in the top of the ninth, but De. Hughes came in as the relief pitcher and struck out the final two to end the game with the 5-3 win.

Sophomore Will Miller (5-3) was credited as the winning pitcher after pitching 8.1 innings and striking out 13 batters. De. Hughes was credited with the save. Chambliss and Schwarz both went 3-4 from the plate with two RBI and a run scored.

In game one of Saturday’s doubleheader, Spalding put up two runs in the third and another in the sixth. In the top of the seventh, they took a 4-0 lead. With two outs in the bottom of the seventh with two on, Chambliss stepped up to the plate and hit a RBI single scoring sophomore Jacob Holtgraewe. Backes advanced to third, but De. Hughes grounded out to get the third out and end the game with a 4-1 loss.

De. Hughes (8-1) was credited with his first loss of the season after pitching the complete game. Holtgraewe and Chambliss each went 2-3 from the plate.

The Blue Jays started game two with three up, three down. In the bottom, senior Andy Pichler led-off with a single. He was advanced to third by Chambliss’ sacrifice bunt and was brought home by junior Tyler Branneky’s RBI double.

The Golden Eagles tied the game at 1 in the top of the third, but in the bottom of the inning Chambliss cracked a homerun over center field to take back the lead, 2-1. Backes scored in the fourth inning off a RBI single by Pichler to take the 3-1 lead.

The Golden Eagles tied the game in the seventh inning and took the 4-3 lead in the eighth with a RBI triple.

Ty. Branneky led-off the eighth with a double and advanced to third with Da. Hughes’ single. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Schwarz to tie the game at 4. Backes later hit a RBI single to score Da. Hughes and take the 5-4 lead.

In the top of the ninth, Spalding put up two runs to take back the lead, 6-5. With bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, the Blue Jays were unable to score, ending the game with a 6-5 loss.

The Blue Jays finished the game with 13 hits. Ty. Branneky went 4-4 from the plate with a RBI; Chambliss went 3-4.

Sophomore Collin Brinker was credited with the loss after coming in as relief and pitching 1.2 innings. Freshman Jake Lund pitched the first 7.1 innings.

The Blue Jays graduate four seniors: Jordan Allen, Danton Hughes, Andy Pichler and Ben Schwarz.