Westmont College hits 3 home runs but loses season opener

MONTECITO, Calif. - Freshman Bryan Peck threw five scoreless innings and Simon Reid opened the scoring with a solo shot in the sixth, but Westmont was unable to hang on in a 5-3 opening day loss against #4 Lewis-Clark State.

All three runs for the Warriors came via the solo home run. Once runners reached, the bats were unable to capitalize as the club left 11 runners on base and did not record a single hit with a runner in scoring position.

“We were facing a proven number-one on the mound today,” said Westmont head coach Robert Ruiz. “I was telling our guys after the game that their guys did what they were supposed to do. I don’t want to take too much away from our hitters. Sellers is one of the best arms we’ll see all year and I thought we still put together some good at bats.”

Peck, the first true freshman to get the opening day nod under Ruiz, delivered a storybook collegiate debut. The Palmdale native opened the season by striking out LC State’s Riley Way, allowing the home crowd to erupt as the season was officially underway.

The right-hander did not stop there.

Utilizing a mid-to-upper 80s fastball with sink, and a change-up in the mid-70s, Peck proceeded to retire the first 12 batters he faced while recording seven strikeouts. Earlier this week, Ruiz said he had hoped that Peck could get him through three to four innings before turning the ball over to the pen. After four perfect innings on just 64 pitches, the freshman earned an opportunity to head out for a fifth inning of work.

Nick Seamons broke up the perfect-game bid by lining a single off the glove of shortstop Robbie Haw, and Peck dug himself a deeper hole when he plunked the next batter to put two on with nobody out.

Following a mound visit, Peck recorded his eighth strikeout and center field Mezurashi ran down a ball in left-center field. Then, Peck issued a walk to load the bases with two outs.

On an 0-2 pitch, Peck spun a change-up that sunk below the barrel of Dominic Signorelli, and the freshman let out a roar as he spun off the mound with his ninth strikeout and five shutout innings under his belt in his collegiate debut.

“I had a lot of people ask us in the last week why we were starting a true freshman on opening day, against LC State,” said Ruiz. “I think he showed on the mound today why we put him in that spot. A lot of times you want to protect your young guys and slow them into their college careers, but with a couple guys down, we had a choice to make.

“As a staff, we felt Bryan was the guy that could give us a chance to win today and he showed why today. I was excited about the grit that he showed and the ability to make pitches in leverage counts. He gave us a chance to beat a really good team. If that’s a sign of what’s to come, we’re pretty fortunate to have him.”

After Gabe Arteaga fired a 1-2-3 top half of the sixth, the game was still tied 0-0 due to the efficiency of Trent Sellers-Lewis-Clark’s ace that had matched Peck and the bullpen pitch-for-pitch up to that point.

Finally, Reid sat on a 2-1 fastball and led off the bottom of the sixth with a towering home run to right field, sending the third base dugout into a frenzy along with the home crowd. Those who were brought to their feet included Reid’s brother, Bailey, who got to see his brother play for the first time since graduating in 2020.

The younger Reid collected four hits in five at bats in the season opener.

A picture-perfect opening day began to come to an end during the next half-inning, when Lewis-Clark State scored their first runs of the season. Arteaga allowed back-to-back singles to open the frame which put runners at the corners with nobody out. Then, the right-hander skipped a ball past Reid that allowed Seamons to carry home for the first run for the visitors.

Then, after Carlos Moreno came on in an attempt to put out the fire, Sam Linscott put the road team ahead with a sacrifice fly to straight-away center, bringing home Luke White.

After being held scoreless in the bottom of the seventh, Westmont fell behind even further when Way clubbed a two-run shot over the left field wall to make it 4-1. The added insurance proved to be key for the visiting Warriors when Brady Renck led off the eighth with a solo shot to pull Westmont back within a pair.

After a two-out double from David Martinez put runners on second and third, Westmont’s Luke Tillitt made his collegiate debut in a spot with a chance to tie the game. Unfortunately for the home Warriors, Tillitt went down swinging to end the inning.

Westmont’s Aidan Holly allowed another insurance run to score when he balked home a run in the ninth, which, again, proved key when Finn Snyder opened up the bottom of the ninth with another solo shot to pull the club back within two.

“Final score aside, I thought our bullpen did a pretty good job,” reflected Ruiz. “When you’re following a performance like Peck, it can be hard to come in and continue that success. Gabe came on and put up a huge zero in that sixth inning, and then in the seventh he got ‘baseballed’.

“Carlos and Aidan were both a pitch away from having clean outings, but it's day one against a good team and they competed well.”

Westmont strung together their most resilient at bats in the bottom of the ninth following Snyder’s homer. After Haw was robbed of a single by a diving catch, Reid and Renck kept the line moving with two outs to bring up the heart of Westmont’s lineup, representing the winning run.

After Thomas Rudinsky worked a full-count walk, Josh Rego came up with the bases loaded and two outs in a 5-3 game. On a 1-0 pitch, Rego popped up to the second baseman A.J. Davis, and Westmont’s rally officially came up short in the season opener.

“I do think there were some opportunities when we could’ve been more on time with the fastball” noted Ruiz, “but I don’t want to take anything away from our hitters. Those are some of the best arms we’ll see throughout the year.

“From my perspective, we just have to do a better job of creating more offense. I think we’ll have a pretty dynamic offense when it’s all said and done, but today, we were just one swing away.”

The club returns to action tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. when they host Saint Katherine on Russ Carr Field.

(Article courtesy of Westmont Athletics).