LONDON, Ont. - The Western Mustangs capped a doubleheader sweep over the Guelph Gryphons with a dramatic 5-4 come-from-behind victory at Dan Pulham Field Monday night to clinch first place in the OUA standings at the conclusion of the regular season.
Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Mustangs rallied to put two runs across, ensuring they will host the OUA's final four postseason next weekend.
Paul Lytwynec provided the heroics with a two-out line drive single to centre, which scored pinch-runner
Dustin Saracini from second.
The Mustangs had previously knotted the score at four runs apiece when, earlier during Lytwynec's at bat, Saracini and
Andrew Thomson pulled off a double steal. In a designed play, Saracini drew a pickoff throw at first base, resulting in a rundown between first and second. Meanwhile, Thomson broke from third base and beat a throw from the shortstop, sliding safely around the Guelph catcher for the tying run.
Western opened the scoring in Game 2 on a sacrifice fly by first baseman
Graham Fulton in the third inning. The Mustangs then added a pair of runs the following inning on base hits from
Daniel Goldberg and
Anthony Dufour.
But the Gryphons mounted a comeback in the fifth off Western starter
Adam Paish, who had entered the inning with a no-hitter. Following a pair of singles and a walk, shortstop Steve Fleischer picked up an RBI single to make it 3-1. Two batters later, Rich Horne lifted a bases-loaded single down the right field line to tie the score at three. The Gryphons then took their first lead of the day in the top of the seventh off Western reliever
Bryn McDonnell, who got into a bases loaded, nobody out jam. Guelph catcher Justin Interisano lifted a sacrifice fly to right to put the visitors ahead 4-3.
Game 2 Boxscore
Solid pitching helped propel the Mustangs to a 3-1 win in Game 1 of Monday night's doubleheader.
Andrew Bergman picked up the win, allowing just one unearned run on five hits over 6.0 innings of work. Lytwynec then moved from third base to the pitcher's mound for the final three innings. The right-hander was dominant in closing things out, working a perfect three frames while striking out seven Gryphon hitters.
The Mustangs opened the scoring in the first inning on an RBI single by first baseman
Robert Wakefield. Following a Guelph run in the top of the second, Western responded in the bottom half, going up 2-1 on a run-scoring single from
Shawn Robinson, who went 3-for-3 with a walk in the contest.
Kevin Annett's hit by pitch with the bases loaded in the fourth inning then put the Mustangs up 3-1, which stood up as the final.
Game 1 Boxscore
Western (11-3) will host simultaneous OUA semifinals on Friday, Oct. 8. Toronto and Brock will face off at Dan Pulham Field at 7 p.m., while Western and Waterloo will play at Labatt Park at the same time.
The one-game OUA championship final will be played Saturday afternoon at Labatt Park at 1 p.m.