The Park University Gilbert baseball team needed a win in the rubber game of its three-game series with Westcliff University to keep pace with the other four teams they are fighting with in the Cal Pac Conference race for the final three spots in the conference tournament. They were able to overcome an early 3-0 deficit to beat the Warriors 7-3. With the win, the Buccaneers move to 14-10 in the Cal Pac and 20-24 overall. This is the sixth conference series the Buccaneers have won out of the eighth they have played this season, including series wins over first place Antelope Valley and second place Saint Katherine.
The Bucs fell behind early as the Warriors struck for three runs in the first off Park Gilbert starting pitcher Aaron de Groot. However, unlike yesterday when Westcliff was able to tack on insurance runs in second, de Groot settled in and held the Warriors scoreless for the next five innings.
The Buccaneers would finally get on the board with two runs in the fourth. A Joey Martinez double brought home one run, while a sacrifice fly by Logan White brought the second run in.
The Bucs would tie the game in the sixth. With two outs, Julian Garcia Schroder singled to left and then proceeded to steal second to put himself in scoring position. Martinez then picked up his second RBI of the evening as he drilled a single to left to score Garcia Schroeder.
The Buccaneers took the lead in the seventh without the benefit of a hit. Westcliff brought in reliever Trevor Cummerford who walked the first three batters he faced at the bottom of the Buccaneers order, before striking out Aaron and Alex Stinnett back-to-back. Then he once again lost command of his pitches as he walked DJ Downen on five pitches to drive in Logan Livingston who was running for White who had the first walk of the inning.
The Buccaneers broke the game open in the seventh putting three runs on the board. A Cade Maestas RBI single and an Alex Stinnett two-run single brought in the runs for the Bucs as they made things easy for Bucs closer Diego Bustillos who came on in relief of de Groot in the sixth.
Bustillos kept the Westcliff bats in check over the last four innings as he picked up his first win of the season in only his third outing of the season. In his three appearances, Bustillos has two saves and now a win. Bustillos only gave up one hit and struck out six.
The Buccaneers close out the regular season with a three-game series at Embry Riddle. The Buccaneers hold a one game advantage over ERAU in the standings heading into the series.
