Cal Lutheran Sweeps a Pair From Master’s

This was hardly a banner day for The Master’s baseball team and its coach, John Zeller. The Mustangs dropped a doubleheader to NAIA District III rival Cal Lutheran, losing by scores of 8-5 and 8-3.

Pitchers Dan Pastor and Kevin McGary pitched complete games in picking up wins for the Kingsmen (5-1).

Pastor gave up 15 hits in the opener.

“He’s not a power pitcher,” Cal Lutheran Coach Al Schoenberger said. “But he had a good game. He pitched more with his head than his arm.”

Pastor must have had a headache after The Master’s (3-11) jumped to a 4-0 lead in the second inning.

Catcher Terry Sloan started the scoring when he hit his fourth home run.Then, Tony DeMare, who had been out for five weeks with a pulled hamstring, and first baseman Kurt Thielen singled. Pitcher Shane Carriger doubled down the left-field line, scoring DeMare. Right fielder Andre Richner drove in Thielen and Carriger with a single up the middle.

After the second inning, though, Pastor shut the Mustangs out until the bottom of the seventh.

The Kingsmen answered with two runs in the third and three in the seventh.

They led, 5-4, going into the bottom of the seventh.

But The Master’s tied the score when Matt MacArthur drove in Tony Dello, who had singled and moved to second on a sacrifice.

The game, scheduled for seven innings, ended after nine when The Master’s could answer a three-run rally by Cal Lutheran.

“We played way better in the first game than we have all year,” Zeller said. “We had that game won. We should’ve won. I can’t put any blame on anyone but myself.”

In the bottom of the ninth, the Mustangs’ Sean Fielding hit a shot that rolled into deep center field. Zeller, who was coaching at third base, motioned for Fielding to take third. He was thrown out easily.

“You never should let that happen. Never make the first out of an inning at third base,” Zeller said. “To me, that cost us the game. That took the wind out of our sails.”

In the second game, Master’s pitcher Mike Wilson was replaced by Kevin Taylor in the first inning after the Kingsmen scored four runs.

McGary allowed just three Mustang hits.