AREA COLLEGE NOTEBOOK

The Master’s College baseball team, after winning eight of nine games, moved up two spots this week to No. 15 in the NAIA final regular-season poll.

Of course, that was before the Mustangs (32-9) squandered a 10-2 seventh-inning lead Tuesday in an 11-10 loss to Cal Baptist. Master’s concludes the regular season Saturday at California Christian College in Fresno and will enter the NAIA Independent sectional tournament on May 17 against an opponent to be determined.

Catcher Mike Wertz leads Master’s in most offensive categories. He is batting .437 with 10 home runs, 50 runs batted in and 15 doubles.

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Joey Penberthy, who averaged 20.2 points a game while leading Master’s to a seventh consecutive NAIA tournament appearance last season in men’s basketball, has been selected the school’s male athlete of the year.

Penberthy finished his four-year career as the sixth-leading scorer in Master’s history with 1,876 points. He ranks second in career free-throw percentage at 81.2%.

Kim Gibson, a senior volleyball player, and Lesley DuBois, a freshman basketball player, were selected co-female athletes of the year.

Gibson led Master’s with 366 kills, 123 blocks and 47 solo blocks. She was selected to the NAIA All-Region II team.

DuBois, from Santa Rosa, averaged team highs of 18.1 points and 9.3 rebounds.

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Want to beat Tom Canale? Better catch him on May 2.

Canale, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound junior right-hander from Payson, Ariz., is 24-11 in his career at Cal Lutheran and closing in on the school record for career victories. Erik Kiszczak holds the record of 26 from 1996-99.

Canale’s record pursuit was stalled Tuesday, when he suffered his first loss of the season, a 7-2 loss at Cal State Northridge that dropped his record to 10-1. It also snapped a 12-game winning streak for Canale dating to last season.

His last loss? May 2, 1999, a 5-2 loss against Menlo in the San Diego tournament.