MT. PLEASANT, Iowa - Westminster baseball opened up a three-game series with Iowa Wesleyan with a dominant 14-1 win.
Westminster improves to 6-7 overall and 2-2 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
The Blue Jays scored their first run of the game in the first inning on an RBI single from Hayden Hirschvogel to score Branden Beeler, kicking off the first of five straight innings in which Westminster scored a run.
Will Stonecipher added the RBI in the second inning with a double to score Ryan Clavin, making the score 2-0 after two innings. The Tigers scored their only run of the game in the bottom of the second with a sacrifice fly to pull back within one run of the lead, but the next six innings were all Blue Jays.
With Beeler and Zach Stiles reaching in the third inning, Clavin stepped up to the plate and launched a triple to right center for two RBI, increasing the lead to 4-1. An Ethan Rackers double in the fourth added another run to the Westminster total.
A four-run fifth inning was kickstarted by another RBI form Hirschvogel to again score Zach Eisenreich and advance Beeler, leaving two runners on for Ryan Clavin, who stepped up to smash a three-run shot to right and bring his RBI total to five on the night, making the lead 9-1.
After the Tigers recorded two shutout innings in the sixth and seventh to extend the game another inning, Westminster added five runs in the eighth inning to end the game after eight innings. Trevor Rhoads added a single to score Braden Beasley and Michael Skinner, followed by an RBI walk from Hirschvogel for his third RBI of the night. Clavin added his sixth RBI with a sacrifice fly, scoring Tanner Nowatski. The 14th and final run for Westminster came on a single from Tyler Bise to score Hirschvogel.
Ian Cassidy earned another dominant win, pitching the complete game and striking out 11, including no walks and just three hits allowed.
Along with Clavin's 3-4 night with six RBI, Hirschvogel and Rhoads each added multi-RBI games with three and two, respectively.
Westminster plays the final two games of the series with a Saturday doubleheader with the first pitch coming at 1 p.m.
