Master’s Dowhower, Defense Disarm Cal Lutheran, 3-2

The Master’s College baseball team beat Cal Lutheran, 3-2, on Tuesday because of three arms, and only one of them belonged to a pitcher.

Mustang right-hander Ryan Dowhower gave up one earned run in eight innings, catcher Jeff Bennett picked a runner off first base at a critical moment and center fielder Garrick Moss threw the would-be tying run out at the plate in the bottom of the eighth.

“Our defense really picked it up and made the plays today,” Bennett said. “It was just a solid defensive day.”

The nonconference victory at Cal Lutheran helped turn the fortunes of both teams. The Kingsmen (15-8) had won nine in a row, and the Mustangs (13-13) had struggled since an 8-3 start.

While Cal Lutheran Coach Marty Slimak praised Dowhower (2-3), he couldn’t help but grind his teeth over the Kingsmen’s general inability to execute, particularly in the late innings.

Trailing, 2-1, in the sixth, Cal Lutheran had runners at first and second with none out. But Rich Holmes’ bunt went straight to third baseman Derek Bell, who wheeled and fired the ball to shortstop Matt Huter for a forceout at third.

After John Becker flew out to center field, cleanup hitter Jeff Marks was at the plate with two out when Holmes strayed off first base and was picked off by Bennett.

“We have a sign to call that play,” Bennett said. “And I looked to the first baseman and we both called it at the same time. The guy was off a mile.”

Slimak, running his fingers through his hair as if he were ready to pull out a clump, took no solace in the fact that Cal Lutheran has won 15 of 18 games, or that the Kingsmen jumped to eighth in the nation in the latest Division III poll.

“We just did not execute today,” he said. “That’s not the way we’ve been playing these last 15 games that we’ve won. We didn’t bunt when we needed to and we didn’t run the bases well.”

The game’s final critical play came in the bottom of the eighth, with Master’s holding a one-run lead and Cal Lutheran’s Ruben Torres at second base with one out. With Ray Arvizu at the plate, Slimak pleaded from the third-base coach’s box for Torres to get a bigger lead off second.

Arvizu then ripped a line drive to center field. Slimak waved Torres in, but Moss’ two-hop throw sliced perfectly to Bennett, who blocked the plate and tagged out Torres.

Cal Lutheran had a chance in the bottom of the ninth when Marks walked with one out and stole second with two out, but Gilbert Benitez grounded out to end the game.

Master’s freshman John Maggiora pitched the ninth to pick up his third save.

Cal Lutheran, which was preparing for a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series this weekend, used five pitchers. All the runs were scored against freshmen Matt Hernandez and Brian Garrettson (0-1).

Hernandez gave up two runs in third inning on a pair of doubles and a single.

The eventual winning run scored in the eighth when Garrettson walked Jim Young with the bases loaded.