SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Junior All-GSAC pitcher Peter Gehle turned in another solid start, but Azusa Pacific surrendered single runs in the 10th and 11th innings to suffer a 6-5 loss to The Master's in the opening game of the Golden State Athletic Conference Postseason Tournament Monday afternoon at Point Loma Nazarene.
With the loss, Azusa Pacific drops to 33-17 overall, while The Master's improves to 34-18 on the season. The Cougars drop into the loser's bracket of the 5-team double-elimination GSAC Tournament, where they will take on the loser of tomorrow's 9 a.m. game between Fresno Pacific and Biola in a 3 p.m. elimination game at Point Loma Nazarene's Carroll B. Land Stadium. The Master's advances to a 12 p.m. Tuesday meeting with GSAC regular-season champion and tournament host Point Loma Nazarene.
Extra-inning doubles sparked each of the 3 runs scored in extra innings, with Ben Ives' 2-bagger in the 11th setting up the Mustangs with a runner in scoring position. Ives stole third with Michael Bando batting, and Bando deposited a single into left for the game-winning RBI for The Master's.
The Mustangs scored in the top of the 10th following Jared Otto's leadoff double, cashing in the run for a 5-4 lead on Eric Blackwell's RBI single to left-center. Cougar righthander Garrett Lebsock, in his fourth inning of relief, induced a popup and an inning-ending double play heading into the bottom of the 10th inning.
Senior designated hitter Eddie Crespo led off the frame with a double, moving to third on senior third baseman Ryan Dowell's bunt single. Sophomore rightfielder Virgil Chavira's sacrifice fly to right tied the game at 5-5, and Dowell advanced to second on a wild pitch with GSAC Player of the Year Brice Cutspec at the plate. Mustangs reliever David Goodenough got Cutspec to fly out to center field for the second out before intentionally walking All-GSAC junior Ryan Delgado. With 2 outs and runners on first and second, senior centerfielder Drew Evans smoked a grounder to the right side, where Otto, the Mustangs' first baseman, made a diving stop and flipped to Goodenough at first for the third out, saving what would have been the game-winning run.
"Losing's no fun, but if that ball sneaks through and Otto doesn't make a web gem, we walk out of there feeling good about a great win," Cougar head coach Paul Svagdis said. "That's just the way the game is, and we're going to keep doing the same thing. We're going to keep trying to make teams make plays against us. Although the sting of losing isn't great, in reality, we played pretty well today, and that's just how baseball is sometimes. We were literally inches from winning that game."
Gehle was far from overpowering with only 3 strikeouts, but he scattered just 2 earned runs (plus 2 more unearned) on 7 hits to send the game into the final 3 regulation innings tied at 4-4. It was his fourth straight start of 6-plus innings in which he gave up 2 or fewer earned runs.
The Master's starter Joe Zeller, another All-GSAC pick, made a costly 2-out mistake in the first inning, serving up a 3-run home run to All-GSAC junior Ryan Delgado, whose 20th longball of the year gave the Cougars an early 3-0 lead. However, over the next 8 innings, Zeller held the GSAC's best offense in check, surrendering just 1 unearned run on 3 hits to keep the game tied through 9 innings.
Otto homered off Gehle to lead off the second to cut into the Cougars' 3-run lead, and Blackwell followed with the first of 3 more Mustang base-hits in the inning that manufactured another run that pulled The Master's to within 3-2. Blackwell drove in the tying run with an RBI single to left in the top of the third inning.
Azusa Pacific regained the lead at 4-3 in the bottom of the fourth, when senior leftfielder Stephen Gillette's tailing fly ball to right fell out of the glove of a diving Blackwell in right field, which was charged as a tough 3-base error to the All-GSAC outfielder. Junior pinch-hitter Chris Feicht brought Gillette home with a sacrifice fly to right gave the Cougars a 1-run lead that was immediately erased by The Master's in the top of the fifth. A double-steal on Blackwell's swinging strikeout put runners at second and third with 1 out, and a groundout to third plated the tying run for the Mustangs.
Delgado was 3-for-4 with a walk, and Crespo went 3-for-5 to help spearhead Azusa Pacific's 9-hit attack. Blackwell and Ives each went 3-for-5 to pace the offense for The Master's, which lost 3 of 4 in the regular-season series with Azusa Pacific, including back-to-back 10-inning defeats to the Cougars March 25-26. Before Monday's win, the Mustangs had not beaten Azusa Pacific outside of Santa Clarita since 2003.
