SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – A late rally on Friday opened up endless possibilities for the Warriors on this road trip to Santa Clarita. Backed by their heavy hitters, the Warriors kept the momentum going as they won their second consecutive series, giving their coach a milestone in the process.
Head coach
Trevor Paine came into Saturday with 98 victories during his tenure as the Jessup skipper. With the Saturday sweep, Paine becomes the first Jessup baseball coach to reach 100 victories with the program.
Paine spoke on the accomplishment. ""I'm humbled to be able to say I've won 100 games as the head coach at William Jessup. I owe so much to the players both past and present and my incredible coaching staff. I'm the luckiest coach in the country to be able to work alongside such intelligent hard-working people. I look forward to many more wins in the future."
TMU started Saturday's scoring with a run in the first inning of game one, but Jessup abruptly answered on a solo homer from
Dylan Cole. It was one of four homers the Warriors would hit on Saturday.
The Mustangs retook the lead in the last of the second, plating two, but a four-run rally capped off with a three-run shot from
Jorge Perez had Jessup back on top, 5-3. TMU rallied late to even the score at five in the sixth.
Jessup's third homer of the day came off the bat of
Kawaiola Takemura, whose solo blast in the eighth gave Jessup the run support needed to secure a victory. Perez tacked on an insurance run later in the inning as the Warriors won game one, 7-5.
James Courshon earned his second win of the season.
Marlin Brucato closed the door in the ninth for his sixth save of the campaign.
Takemura continued to swing a hot stick in game two as his RBI single put Jessup ahead 2-0. The Warriors got their first run on the board in an unconventional manner, as a balk allowed the runner on third to come home.
Jaisten Cabatbat joined the power brigade in the fourth as his solo shot put Jessup out in front 4-0. A sacrifice fly from
Dirk Ryan gave Jessup a five-run cushion before the Mustangs' offense finally got going with a three-run sixth. The Warriors tacked on two more in the seventh, helping them to avoid a late surge from the Mustangs, as Jessup won the finale 7-4.
Max Moreno was back on the mound Saturday after working an inning to start game one on Friday. The lefty lasted five innings, allowing three runs on two hits as he picked up his second victory of the season.
"This was a very big weekend for us," added Paine. "It's never easy to win down here so being able to move past game one and win the next three was great to see. We are starting to see signs of the club I think we are capable of being."
The Saturday sweep pushes the Warriors back over .500 as they now sit at 19-18 on the year. At 8-12 in the GSAC, the Warriors now hold a 1.5 game lead for the final spot in the GSAC Tournament.
Jessup is back home next weekend to take on Arizona Christian University. It will be night baseball at McBean Park, as game times are set for 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Paine touched on the momentum the Warriors have built, and how they can keep it going. "We need another good week of practice because we have a really good team in ACU coming to McBean next weekend."
Vanguard will pay a visit to Lincoln the following weekend as the Warriors wrap up the home portion of their schedule with doubleheaders April 8 – 9.
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William Jessup University is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC). For additional information regarding Jessup Athletics, visit www.jessupathletics.com; visit www.jessup.edu for more information on William Jessup University. Follow Jessup Athletics on social media: William Jessup University Athletics (Facebook) and @JessupAthletics (Twitter & Instagram).
