GREENVILLE, Ill. - The Westminster Blue Jays tripped a pair of top seeds in advancing to the championship of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference postseason tournament.
Westminster College - the No. 2 seed in the West Division - opened play Friday by blanking Greenville College, the No. 1 seed in the East Division, in a 5-0 victory. The Blue Jays then followed up later Friday by rallying for an 8-5 win over Webster University, the West's No. 1 seed.
Westminster (21-11) moved on to play against Greenville in the SLIAC title game Saturday night. Update: Greenville won 11-7. (Stats here)
Because the Blue Jays lost that game in the double-elimination format, they play again Sunday for the championship.
Westminster freshman starter Sam Huesgen threw a complete game to earn the shutout victory over Greenville on Friday. Huesgen (7-3) scattered five hits, struck out five and walked three.
The Blue Jays broke on top with three runs in the top of the first inning. Senior designated hitter Ryan Gvillo delivered a two-run double and senior first baseman Nick Cessna had an RBI fielder's choice.
Westminster tacked on its other two runs in the sixth on an error and junior center fielder Nick Bohlmann's RBI single.
Gvillo went 2-for-4 with two RBI as the Blue Jays logged 10 hits. Senior catcher A.C. Long finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and Bohlmann was 2-for-5 with an RBI.
Westminster wiped out a 3-1 deficit against Webster by coming up with four runs in the top of the sixth. Junior shortstop Adam Mundle's two-run double tied the game and junior second baseman Blake Strebler's RBI single put the Blue Jays in front to stay.
Senior right fielder Tanner Branneky followed with an RBI double to give Westminster a 5-3 advantage. The Blue Jays added a run in the seventh on Long's RBI single and Strebler's two-run single in the ninth made it 8-3.
Webster tallied two runs in the bottom of the inning to account for the final margin.
Strebler finished 2-for-4 with three RBI and scored twice as Westminster accumulated 12 hits. Branneky was 3-for-3 with two doubles and two RBI, while sophomore third baseman Ryan Klimkiewicz went 3-for-5 and scored three runs.
Mundle finished 1-for-3 with two RBI and scored once.
Sophomore starter Alex Dickneite went 8 1/3 innings to post the win for the Blue Jays. Dickneite (7-3) allowed five earned runs on eight hits, struck out six and issued three walks.