Westminster Baseball Rides Five Game Win Streak

Ryan Klimkiewicz batting against Blackburn in the 14-4 victory over the Beavers. PHOTO COURTESY PATTY HUESGEN.

BY JACKSON BERGER
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

Westminster Baseball had a successful week in conference play after sweeping both Blackburn College and Iowa Wesleyan. After the two huge conference series sweeps, Blue Jay Baseball improved to 11-8 on the season with a 6-2 record in SLIAC conference play.

---

 

The Blue Jays entered the week with a 6-8 record after getting off to a slow start. The team looked to bounce back against Blackburn College on Thursday afternoon. In the first game, the Beavers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but the Blue Jays answered with a five-run inning of their own. Blackburn answered however in the sixth, putting up three more runs in the inning to go ahead 6-5.

The lead did not last for long. In the bottom of the sixth the Blue Jays put up a 10 run inning to take the lead, 15-6. The big inning was contributed to by Ryan Klimkiewicz who hit a two-run home run, which was his third home run of the year. Adam Mundle also hit a two-run double in the inning. Also, back-to-back singles by Ryan Clavin and Brandon Beeler helped the Blue Jay rally. The game finally came to an end with a 15-7 victory for the Blue Jays to take game one.

Blackburn jumped out to an early 2-0 in the second game, but that lead did not last for long. The Blue Jays answered in the bottom of the first with three of their own runs to take a 3-2 lead. Klimkiewicz added another two-run homer in the bottom of the third to keep his tremendous day at the plate going. He then notched two more hits in the fourth and fifth inning, which led to another two RBI. After a 10-run lead in the seventh inning, Blackburn added two runs to make the score 12-4. Mason Price hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh to end the game due to run rule for a 14-4 victory. Alex Dickneite secured the victory in the game, evening up his season record at 1-1.

Klimkiewicz had a huge day at the plate going 6-8 with seven RBI and four runs scored on the day. “I was really feeling comfortable at the plate,” Klimkiewicz said. “I was just seeing the ball really well. I am glad I could contribute to the two victories we needed to get back on track.”

The team secured three more victories from Iowa Wesleyan, which improved their record on the week to 5-0. After the sweep of the Tigers, the Blue Jays improved to 11-8 on the season and 6-2 in Conference Play. The team has a tough week ahead with two series against Greenville and Spalding University.