The Master’s University baseball team came close but fell short of moving on to the GSAC championship game, losing to the Hope International Royals 5-2 Tuesday night, April 29.

The Royals scored three runs in the first three innings, and despite getting two in the third, the Mustangs (30-19) could not get any closer.

Tommy Gwinn hit his second home run of the day, a two-run blast to left that also plated Cason Brownell in that third inning. Two batters later and with two outs in the inning, Owen Payn singled to shortstop. The next batter was Wyatt Wagner, who crushed a ball to deep right-center field. The ball took one bounce and went over the fence for a ground-rule double.

The speedy Owen Payn would have easily scored on the play.

Moments later, a passed ball looked like it was going to be enough to bring Payn home. But the ball ricocheted off the back stop and came right back to the catcher, freezing Payn at third. The inning ended on a foul ball out.

“We had chances to score and just didn’t come through,” said TMU Head Coach Monte Brooks. “Just some bad breaks. The ground-rule double, that passed ball… Just had some bad breaks that kept us from scoring.”

HIU added another run in the sixth and yet another in the seventh to put it away 5-2.

James Coker started on the bump for The Master’s, going 5.0 innings and giving up four earned runs on six hits to absorb the loss. He was followed by Michael Chung for an inning and J.T. Friesen for 2.0.

Seven different batters each got a hit for the Mustangs.

The tournament is taking place at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz., the spring training home of the Oakland A’s. Coach Brooks and others in the conference have enjoyed the opportunity to play in such a facility.

“It was a nice environment to play in,” Brooks said. “And our guys got a chance to extend the season and I’m really encouraged by that. They really overcame a lot of things that came in our way over the course of the year, and you’ve got to hand it to the seniors. Their leadership and work ethic and passion to play was great to see.”

Now TMU awaits the decision by the NAIA post-season committee to find out if the team will be given an at-large berth for the Opening Round of the NAIA Baseball Championship. The winner of the GSAC, either Hope International or Arizona Christian, will get the automatic berth to the nationals.

For more information visit GoMustangs.com.