Santa Clarita, Calif. — Western Christian University’s baseball team opened its season with a 15-1 loss to The Master’s on Thursday at Lou Herwaldt Stadium.
Head coach Bobby Halford said the team faced a tough start against an experienced opponent. “We have a lot of new faces, and we didn’t compete early on the mound, which snowballed on us,” he said. “We’ll get back at it tomorrow with different guys getting opportunities both on the mound and in the field.”
The Mustangs jumped ahead early with a solo home run from Ty Beck in the bottom of the first inning. Following that, two walks and a balk loaded the bases with no outs. Jack Drew then hit an RBI groundout to shortstop to put The Master’s up 2-0. Johan Pelayo drove in two more runs with a single to right, and a wild pitch capped a five-run first inning for the Mustangs.
Western Christian showed signs of life in the third, advancing a runner to third base but failing to score. The Mustangs extended their lead to 11 in the bottom of the inning, aided by a pair of errors, a hit batter, a walk, and a sacrifice fly. The Crusaders threatened again in the fifth, loading the bases with two outs, but the Mustangs worked out of the jam to keep their opponent off the scoreboard.
The Mustangs added four more runs in the sixth, highlighted by a two-out grand slam. Western Christian managed its only run in the top of that inning, as Nic Arender and Gage Hinnant hit back-to-back doubles. Hinnant’s double drove in Arender to prevent the shutout.
Western Christian’s next game is scheduled for Friday at 4 p.m. against The Master’s.
