Bryan Peck continued his incredible freshman season for the Westmont baseball team in the NAIA National Tournament opener on Monday, pitching eight scoreless innings in a 6-0 victory over Antelope Valley on Monday.
Peck allowed just four hits, struck out six and walked one. Carlos Moreno pitched the ninth.
The Warriors (43-11) advance to a winner’s bracket game against Indiana Southeast on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. at Westmont. Indiana Southeast blew out Olivet Nazarene, 22-4 in the first game on Monday. Antelope Valley and Olivet Nazarene will play an elimination game at 11 a.m.
The pressure of pitching in the national tournament didn’t face Peck.
“I cannot say enough about Bryan Peck and the competitor he has been all year for this team,” said Westmont head coach Robert Ruiz. “To step into the first game of the opening round and pitch with that kind of poise and demeanor, there are really not a lot of words that can sum up what he has accomplished so far this year and what he means to this team.
“He preserved our bullpen against a really good Antelope Valley team. He pitched out of some jams and from behind at times. He made pitches and stayed off some barrels. It was just fantastic.”
Peck is now 7-3 with an ERA of 3.10.
Westmont scored in the first. With one away in the bottom of the first, Brady Ranke ripped a single into right field. Simon Reid singled to left, advancing Ranke to third. Thomas Rudinsky drove in the Warriors’ first run with a single through the right side.
When Josh Rego worked the count to earn his 18th walk of the season, the Warriors had the bases loaded. A fielder’s choice resulted in the second out with a force out at the plate before Justin Rodriguez singled to left to drive in Rudinsky and increase the Warrior lead to 2-0.
“I loved the aggressive approach early in the game,” expressed Ruiz. “We got one of their better starters and we knew he was going to come after us and land a couple of different pitches for strikes. We were trying to be disciplined in the strike zone, but not passive or defensive.
“For us to be able to score first in our first game of the tournament takes a little bit of the weight off our shoulders offensively. You start to play looser and not press. We came out swinging the way we expect our guys to do and the way we want to play.”
Robbie Haw crushed a ball over the left field fence in the bottom of the fourth for a two-run homer that doubled the Warrior lead. In the eighth, Simon Reid drove a ball over the batting cage beyond the right field fence for another two-run dinger.
“If you are going to win games this time of year, you need someone to have a magic moment and step up in a big situation. Both of those guys did. Those were game-changing at bats that let you breathe a little easier,” said Ruiz.
The Warriors’ victory was a program-record 43rd of the season.
“It is interesting because it is a special accomplishment,” said Ruiz. “The record of 42 was set by a team (in 2016) that I had the opportunity to coach. I am so proud of our guys and how hard they’ve worked to accomplish things this season. Right now, however, the only thing we are focused on is getting out of this tournament and on to the next one.”
Left-hander Hunter Kloke (11-3) is the expected starter for the Grenadiers tomorrow. He has an ERA of 2.59 over 87 innings of work this season. Kloke has recorded 102 strikeouts, an average of 10.55 per nine innings pitched.
Westmont is expected to counter with Eric Oseguera (9-2), who has an ERA of 2.65 over 57 2/3 innings of work. The winner of tomorrow’s contest will advance directly to the first championship game on Wednesday afternoon, while the loser will drop into an elimination game on Wednesday morning.