By Mason Nesbitt, Sports Information Director

A posse of pitchers keyed the Mustangs’ 5-1 win over visiting Marymount California University in Wednesday’s regular-season finale.

Scott Savage escaped a jam in the first inning. Robert Winslow was uber sharp in two hitless frames. Aidan Stout earned the win. Caleb Jaime struck out the side in the sixth.

The offense, however, was provided mostly by a party of two.

Down 1-0 with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, shortstop Aaron Shackelford drilled a line drive over the center fielder’s head that skipped up against the wall and stayed in the park. Shackelford rounded second and dove into third as a relay throw sailed into TMU’s dugout. The score was tied. It was the third time Shackelford had stung a pitch and the first time he’d been rewarded for it.

“He squared up three balls, two should have been jacks,” coach Monte Brooks said of a windy day that might have killed a third-inning drive on the warning track. “… (The triple) got us on the board. That was big.”

Two batters later, Brooks hollered down the line from the third base coaching box, “Come on, Josh. You’re the man.”

Josh Robison responded by depositing a fastball over the left field fence for a three-run shot. It was Robison’s eighth home run of the year and fourth against Marymount.

In the season opener, the senior hit three homers in a rout of the Mariners. Robison had five RBIs and a triple in that game.

Why so much production against one team?

“I don’t know. I was just really confident at the plate,” Robison said. “I’ve been comfortable the last couple days, last couple weeks actually.”

The Mustangs (27-23) tagged on a run in the sixth with a Preston White sacrifice fly. Then White closed the game on the mound with a one-two-three ninth to improve TMU’s non-conference record to 11-3.

The Mustangs are 20-7 at home. Monday, however, they must go on the road, opening the Golden State Athletic Conference tournament at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa.

No. 5 seed Master’s opens against No. 4 seed Hope International with the winner advancing to face GSAC champion William Jessup later in the day. The Mustangs have won the double-elimination tournament two straight years and three times since 2013.

Each of the three times Master’s has won the conference tourney it has also advanced to the NAIA World Series.

But Marymount came first.

The Mustangs outscored the Mariners 32-11 in a season-opening three-game series in January. They’ve beaten the Mariners nine straight times dating back to 2016.

After Nate Bonsell tossed all seven innings in game one of Tuesday’s double-header against Bethesda University, Brooks still found work for all seven of his top arms in this week’s three games, all wins.

Brooks said entering the week he was thankful for live action as the Mustangs prepared for the GSAC tournament. Master’s made the most of the opportunity.

The same could be said for Robison, who has taken on his first full-time role this season, his last at TMU. He leads the team with a .317 average, while driving in 26 runs and racking up 10 doubles.

“It’s been an absolute blast,” Robison said.

Wednesday’s game wasn’t carefree early.

Savage retired the first two batters of the game before hitting a batter and allowing a double. He struck out Marymount’s No. 5 hitter to end the threat.

Stout came in for his first inning of work in the fourth and allowed two singles and a wild pitch before bringing in the game’s first run on a balk call. The sophomore displayed maturity he might not have possessed a year ago and recovered to avoid any further damage, finishing with a solid line of two innings, two hits and two strike outs.

Max Maitland, a day after tallying the 200th hit of his Mustang career, went 2-for-3 with his second triple in as many days. Maitland is hitting .360 since March 18.