CMS Baseball Splits With Whittier, Takes Weekend Series 2-1

WHITTIER, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps baseball team rolled to a 20-6 win over Whittier in the first of two games on Friday, but fell on the short end of a lower-scoring 6-3 game in the nightcap to split the twinbill.

The Stags, who won the series opener 15-5 yesterday, move to 17-7 overall and 6-6 in the league with the split, after winning the series from the Poets, who move to 8-13-1 overall and 4-5 in league play.

Andrew Mazzone homered in both games of the doubleheader, giving him 11 on the season, three shy of the program record set by teammate Julian Sanders last year. 

Mazzone's homer in the opener was one of four hit by the Stags, as Tyler Shaw, Jack Potter and Slader Spoor all added round-trippers. Mazzone's blast opened the scoring in the first, and Potter's homer made it a 2-0 game in the second.

Shaw's homer was a three-run shot to cap off a 10-run third inning as CMS took command of the game with a 12-1 lead. Sanders had a two-run single to start the scoring in the inning, and Adam Dapkewicz added a three-run triple.

Bryce Didrickson had a two-run double in the fourth, Sanders had an RBI triple in the fifth, which was followed by a three-run shot from Spoor. Sanders added an RBI double in the sixth, ending the game 3-for-5 with four RBI, a homer shot of the cycle. Shaw was 2-for-3 with three runs and three RBI, and Jackson Hisey threw four innings to get the win in the shortened game, allowing three hits and striking out four. 

CMS looked like it was on its way to a similar offensive explosion when Shaw walked and Mazzone hit a two-run homer to give the Stags a quick 2-0 lead in the nightcap. That was the only hit starter Braydon Williams would allow in five innings, though, and the Poets hit three two-run shots, two from Joe Plaskett to take a 6-2 lead after five.

Sanders and Dillon Martin singled in the sixth, and Potter had an RBI double to cut the lead to 6-3, but the Stags left runners on second and third and managed only one baserunner in the final three innings as the Whittier bullpen closed the door. Hamilton Finefrock threw three innings of one-hit relief to keep CMS in striking distance down the stretch, but the Stags were unable to come back for the series sweep.

CMS will return to action when it steps out of conference for a three-game road series at Whitworth on Saturday and Sunday in Spokane.