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Mustangs trample Badgers

September 30, 2010
By jrumley

After dropping two straight games to the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, the Mustangs men’s baseball team fought back Sunday afternoon and swept their archrival Brock Badgers in a doubleheader at Labatt Park.

“We just went out there and played hard. They’re always tough competition,” Mustangs shortstop Shawn Robinson said. “It was good to come out with two.”

Anchored by strong starting pitching and excellent defence, the Mustangs appeared sharp and poised for the post-season.

Game one saw Mississauga native Adam Paish put on a clinic through eight innings, striking out six while only giving up five hits.

“Our pitchers came in and threw strikes against a good hitting team,” Mustangs head coach Mike Lumley said.

Brock was held scoreless until the ninth when relief pitcher Daisuke Suzuki came in and allowed one run, but he managed to escape the jam and preserve the 5-1 win.

With playoffs looming, Brock appeared fierce and determined in the second game, scoring runs in the first and second inning.

Western levelled the score at two in the bottom half of the second.

“We made two errors and it cost us two runs,” Brock coach Jeff Lounsbury said.

London’s own Paul Lytwynec pitched seven innings for the complete game, allowing only two runs on nine hits with six strikeouts.

The crucial moment of the game came in the top of the sixth. With Brock pressing at the plate, a hard line drive hit deep to left field was caught by Ian Campbell, who quickly launched it to home plate in time for Mustangs catcher Kyle Harris to tag out the Brock player trying to score. The double play prevented the game tying run and the Mustangs hung on to the 3-2 win.

No one seemed more impressed with the play than Lounsbury.

“[It was a] big play, what can you do? We challenged the arm and he made a great throw,” he said.

Lumley was in high spirits after his team’s effort.

“Today could’ve been a make or break on the season. We lost two yesterday so we needed to step up and play the game a little harder,” he said.

After the wins, Western sits tied for first in the Ontario University Athletics division with the Varsity Blues.

The Mustangs look to continue their success on the diamond against Guelph next Saturday.

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