By Mason Nesbitt, TMU Sports Information Director

The story could have been that the Mustangs’ mercurial offense exploded for nine runs against one of its most-frustrating foes.

Instead, it centered on the Golden State Athletic Conference’s best pitching staff and its inability to keep Westmont College off the scoreboard in a crucial GSAC showdown.

Master’s scored five runs in the first inning, rallied to tie the score in the eighth and ultimately lost 11-9 on Tuesday at Lou Herwaldt Stadium.

For coach Monte Brooks, the matter was simple.

“They made plays and we didn’t,” he said after the Mustangs made two errors and a crucial base-running mistake to fall for the fourth time in five games.

Master’s is 21-17 overall and 13-14 in GSAC play.

Westmont’s best player won it.

With two out in the ninth, All-GSAC second baseman Michael Stefanic’s two-run double plated the go-ahead runs. And Master’s went quietly in its half after peppering the scorecard with hits and runs most of the day.

Preston White went 4-for-5 in a game originally scheduled for March 2 but postponed by rain. Freshman Kameron Quitno hit a three-run home run in the first inning, his second homer of the season and first that cleared the fence.

“I won’t get all that (teasing) from the players that my first home run was an inside-the-parker,” Quitno said. “I was just happy to give an opportunity to my team.”

Opportunities abounded.

The Mustangs racked up 10 hits and walked eight times. Center fielder Max Maitland finished 2-for-5, singling up the middle in the eighth to kickstart a three-run rally.

White followed with an RBI single and eventually scored on a wild pitch to tie the score. The inning was a marked improvement from the seventh when Quitno lined out to Stefanic with the bases loaded, and Stefanic threw on to first to double up a runner and end the inning.

Every run counted on this day, as the Mustangs used five pitchers and allowed 10 earned runs.

The issue: Westmont put the leadoff man on in five innings, and its Nos. 7-9 hitters reached base seven times and drove in four runs.

This against a Mustang staff that led the GSAC in team ERA entering the day and that has served as the backbone for a squad still searching for offense consistency.

“It’s just baseball,” Maitland said. “We’ll keep playing.”

Master’s will travel to Fullerton on Friday and Saturday to take on Hope International, a team battling with Menlo College and the Mustangs for the GSAC’s final two berths to the five-team conference tournament.

Hope trails fourth-place TMU by two games. Menlo is three back.

Master’s swept Hope in a trio of one-run games at TMU earlier this season.

How big is this week?

“It’s big, but we’re just trying to win pitches — one pitch at a time,” Maitland said. “We don’t really want to think about it too much. Just have fun.”