By Mason Nesbitt, Sports Information Director
An Ottawa Arizona fan sitting in the front row in Herwaldt Stadium Wednesday turned to a friend and provided a foreboding piece of commentary.

“This is not the guy you want up with the bases loaded,” the man said.

Unless, of course, you were a member of The Master’s University baseball team, a club scratching and clawing for a berth in next week’s Golden State Athletic Conference tournament.

TMU’s Aaron Shackelford delivered in that fourth-inning at-bat, scalding a line drive over the right field wall for his fourth home run of the day and 30th of the season, the biggest blow in TMU’s 10-1 win over Ottawa in game two.

The Mustangs won the day’s opener 12-5, and coupled with William Jessup’s simultaneous double-header sweep of Vanguard, Master’s secured a berth in the GSAC tournament, which will begin Monday at OC Great Park in Irvine.

Shackelford went 5-for-9 in the two games Wednesday, with nine RBIs, and he became the first GSAC player in the last decade to reach 30 home runs in a season.

For context, TMU’s all-time record entering the year was 34. And Beau Mills set the NAIA record at Lewis-Clark State in 2007. He hit 38.

“My swing felt really good in batting practice, just trying to stay through everything,” Shackelford said. “I was able to do that. It was a really fun day, and I’m very thankful.”

Shackelford’s grand slam came in support of another strong outing from ace Robert Winslow, who improved to 10-1 on the year. The righty lowered his ERA to 3.24 and struck out eight to reach 100 for the year, most among GSAC players.

His 289 career strikeouts are two shy of matching TMU’s third most all-time.

Wednesday, Winslow flung fastballs, curves and splitters with precision, allowing one run on six hits. He induced more than enough soft contact and pitched out of trouble when necessary.

In the top of the sixth, Ottawa loaded the bases with no outs. Winslow calmly used a ground out, a strikeout and a pop out to end the threat without any damage.

What else did Winslow like about his outing?

“Offense,” he said. “Obviously, those guys giving me all those runs is another part of my outing, right?”

Kyle Adkins started on the bump in game one for Master’s, allowing five runs (two earned) over eight innings to secure his ninth win of the year.

For the Mustangs, it was their 30th victory, marking the 12th time in program history the club has reached that benchmark, all under current head coach Monte Brooks.

TMU’s Will Batz and Nick Tuttle each had two hits in game one. Roy Verdejo went 3-for-4, hammering his seventh home run in the third inning. As he ran to first, Verdejo watched as the ball hugged the foul line and cruised over the two-story clubhouse beyond left field.

Shackelford swatted home runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings, part of an offense that turned a scoreless game into a 12-2 advantage during that span.

By the time Shackelford sauntered to the plate with the bases loaded and TMU leading 3-1 in game two, Winslow said he had a strange feeling that something special was about to happen.
Verdejo wasn’t absolutely sure Shackelford would leave the yard, but …

“Likely, yes,” Verdejo said.

The Mustangs (31-14-1, 19-11 GSAC) racked up 22 hits between the two games and finished the second contest without an error, a stat of particular interest to Brooks.

With two wins Thursday, and a little help, Master’s could move as high as the No. 3 seed in the GSAC tournament.

“We have to come out with the same mentality tomorrow,” Shackelford said. “I think we played really unselfish today. That’s what we want to do, that was what we talked about in the clubhouse. Play for the guys around you. ”