Shaky Defense Haunts Master’s in District 3 Final

In a baseball season in which The Master’s College has climbed to new heights, the end had a distinctly familiar ring to it.

After winning an NAIA District 3 tournament game for the first time, the Mustangs came crashing back to earth Saturday in a 15-6 loss to host Azusa Pacific in the district championship game.

The win was Azusa Pacific’s fourth in as many tries against Master’s this season. The Cougars, champions of the Golden State Athletic Conference, will take a 32-11 record into next weekend’s Area 1 playoffs. Master’s finishes its season 25-20, including a 2-2 postseason mark.

Defense proved to be the Mustangs’ undoing Saturday. Azusa Pacific took advantage of six errors to score six unearned runs, then added another on a balk.

The most costly error--one that didn’t show up in the score book--came in the sixth inning. Azusa Pacific had a runner on first and was holding a 5-3 lead with one out when Brian Muir hit a potential double play grounder to short. But second baseman Brent Sostrom was late in covering, costing the Mustangs an out and leading to a five-run Cougar rally.

“We opened the door for them,” Master’s Coach Chris Harrison said. “We just had too many defensive lapses. We just kinda kicked the ball around. You can’t do that against a club like that.”

Master’s, which needed to beat Azusa Pacific twice Saturday to win the double-elimination tournament, jumped to a 1-0 lead in the first on Craig Johnson’s fourth home run of the season. But the Cougars answered with five runs in the second, chasing starter Sam Minyard (1-2).

Master’s returned the favor, driving Azusa Pacific starter Jon Newville from the mound with two runs in the fourth to cut the deficit to 5-3. But then the Master’s defense came unglued in the sixth as the Cougars put together their second five-run inning in the game to move in front, 10-3.

Chris Hanna led Azusa Pacific’s 14-hit attack with three hits in six at-bats, three runs scored and two runs batted in.

For Master’s, Andy Martin was three for five with a double, Jeff Tomlinson was three for four with two runs batted in and Russell Henzie was two for four with a two-run homer in the seventh, his seventh of the season.

Former Cal Lutheran pitcher Chris Matkin (4-1) picked up the win in relief, giving him a hand in the past two District 3 championships. Last season, Matkin earned a save as CLU beat Azusa Pacific in the title game.