Westmont baseball came from behind for a 3-2 victory over San Francisco State in Game 2 of the NCAA Division II West Regional on Thursday at Russ Carr Field.
The Warriors got a strong start from PacWest Pitcher of the Year Ryan Humphreys and plated a pair of runs in the seventh to battle back and earn the win.
Humphreys twirled seven strong innings, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out 11 batters. Meanwhile, senior Bruce McFeely and redshirt junior Trey Dunn came through in the clutch with run-scoring knocks in the seventh,
“Playing playoff baseball is really special, especially with this group,” Humphreys said. “We’ve gone through a lot in terms of transition, going from the NAIA to NCAA. Our athletic department did a great job getting us postseason eligibility a year early, so we kind of feel like we’re just paying it back to the school.
“It’s kind of our responsibility to go out there and win and kind of put Westmont on the map.”
Westmont will now face off against Cal State Monterey Bay in a best-of-three series to determine the winner of the regional. The two teams face off on Friday at 12 p.m., with game two scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m. The final game of the weekend is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m., if necessary.
Trey Dunn drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning of Thursday’s regional victory. Dunn went 3-for-3 to lead all hitters. (Lily Chubb / Noozhawk Photo)
Meanwhile, San Francisco State’s season came to a close and with it, the baseball program as a whole did as well. The university announced in March that it was cutting Baseball along with Women’s Indoor Track & Field and Men’s Soccer.
“It was a special season for [San Francisco State], back-to-back regionals,” Westmont head coach Paul Svagdis said. “It’s sad when we’re dealing with budgets and finances and all things we have going on, not only locally or statewide, but in our world.
“They’re a great group of kids… and I know they’re going to end up in a good space. I’m sure (head coach) Tony (Schifano) is going to end up somewhere and probably come after us again shortly.”
Humphreys got off to a fast start on Thursday, striking out the first two batters he faced before getting through a 1-2-3 opening frame.
Sophomore Grant Yzermans led off the bottom half with a single and made his way over to third on a stolen base and an error on the throwdown by San Francisco State redshirt sophomore catcher Camden Andrews.
McFeely then drove home Yzermans on a groundout to shortstop to give the Warriors an early 1-0 lead.
Humphreys continued to roll in the second, using a steady diet of fastballs to pick up two more strikeouts and another clean inning.
The Gators got their first base runner in the third and quickly turned it into a rally as a single into center field, hit by pitch and bunt single loaded the bases with one out.
San Francisco State evened the score at 1-1 on an RBI sacrifice fly off the bat of senior Daniel Murillo to drive in graduate Matt Sugden, who singled to lead off the frame.
Sophomore Nicholas Allred then slugged a run-scoring double off the right-center field wall to keep the rally alive and take a 2-1 advantage, but Humphreys secured back-to-back strikeouts to strand two runners in scoring position.
The Warriors got runners to second and third with two outs on a double by McFeely, but they couldn’t capitalize and the Gators held the lead into the fourth.
Bryce McFeely ropes one of his two hits in Thursday’s regional win. McFeely drove in two runs and scored a run of his own to power the offense. (Lily Chubb / Noozhawk Photo)
After a scoreless fourth, Westmont’s offense woke up in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a leadoff double by senior Shane Hofstadler and a bunt single from sophomore Zach Mora to plant runners on the corners with no outs.
Yzermans, the next batter, then rolled into what seemed to be a fielder’s choice to score the run. However, the umpire ruled runner’s interference, resulting in a double play and Hofstadler returning to third base. The Gators got out of the inning without a scratch from there.
Humphreys came back out for the sixth and struck out the side to bring his total to 11 and give his offense some momentum. The Warriors did get two runners on base, but once again left them stranded to keep the score at 2-1.
“Me and coach Svagdis talk a lot about first pitch strikes, it’s super important, especially so you can go deep in the game,” Humphreys said. “Not super ideal to go out there in the third and give up the lead pretty early, but just after that, it’s my job to go out there and keep it close for the rest of the game and go as deep as I can just so we save our bullpen, save our guys for later down the stretch in the regional.”
After Humphreys finished off his strong outing with a scoreless top of the seventh, Mora led off the bottom half with a single to spark a potential rally. Following a strikeout and a groundout, he stood on second with two outs.
McFeely then came through once again, roping a double into right-center field to score Mora and tie the game up at 2-2.
Following a catcher’s interference call, Dunn delivered in the clutch for Westmont with a single into left field to bring home McFeely and take a 3-2 lead, the team’s first since the first inning.
“I’m definitely staying on the fastball there and just really not trying to do too much with it,” Dunn said of his approach. “Fortunately, with two strikes, he left something up… I just didn’t try to do too much, and I think that’s why I was able to capitalize on a pitch like that.”
Westmont closer Zach Yates earned a 6-out save in Thursday’s victory. (Lily Chubb / Noozhawk Photo)
Senior Zach Yates then took over for the Warriors on the mound and worked around a pair of baserunners in the top of the eighth to preserve the 3-2 lead. That score held into the ninth after Westmont came up empty in the bottom half.
In the top of the ninth, the Gators had the first two batters reach before a sacrifice bunt put runners in scoring position with one out.
However, Yates buckled down and got a strikeout and a groundout to seal the 3-2 victory, the program’s first at an NCAA regional.
“[Having Yates] was a big reason why I had to hold [Humphreys] back from not running out and taking it in the eighth,” Svagdis said. “[Humphreys] wanted the ball, and I’m pretty much one of those guys that want to give your workhorse and your ironman the ball and let them go out and compete on their terms when they work that hard.
“So to be honest, as easy as it is to go to Yates, that decision was really hard for me, except for that it was Yates, right? He’s done an incredible job for us, and so Coach [Rick Hubbard] and I looked at each other and we’re like ‘This is not a hard decision right now. We just need to do that.’”
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