Despite a lead-off home run on the second pitch by Ty Beck, The Master’s University baseball team dropped the 2026 season opener 4-3 to the Westcliff Warriors Friday, Jan. 23 at Lou Herwaldt Stadium.

Beck hammered the second pitch he saw over the center field fence to put the Mustangs up 1-0 in the bottom of the first. It was the 36th home run of his Master’s career.

“Ty Beck had an excellent opening day,” said TMU Head Coach Monte Brooks. “It was a neat commendation on his being named a pre-season All-American. In his first two at bats he gets hits and one’s a big blow. He’s just really impressive.”

Carson Knapp was fantastic on the mound for the Mustangs, throwing 6.0 innings and only giving up one earned run on four hits while striking out three.

“He kept us in the game,” Brooks said. “He endured and labored through. We got a couple big pickoffs that helped him get a quicker inning, and so I’m very encouraged by that.”

Knapp gave up an RBI single in the top of the fifth for his only run allowed.

The game stayed tied 1-1 until the top of the eighth when a Warriors single followed by a hit by a pitch put runners on first and second with nobody out. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners into scoring position, then a groundout to short scored a run for Westcliff followed by a two-out double to left to bring in another run to make it 3-1 Warriors.

But the Mustangs answered in the bottom of the eighth when a Cole Rohlmeier single was followed by a Jack Drew ground-rule double to put runners on second and third with one out. With Ryder Frith-Smith inserted to run for Drew at second, both runners then scored on a pair of passed balls to tie the game at 3-3.

The Master’s brought in closer Emilio Morales, to try to hold the game at 3-3. But after getting two outs, Westcliff’s Ben Carter launched a home run over the left field fence to put the Warriors on top. A 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth sealed the deal.

“We played excellent defense and we hung in there in the pitching well enough to keep it close,” Brooks said. “We just didn’t string something together to have a big inning.”

Beck finished the game three for five with the home run, a double and an RBI. Drew finished with a pair of hits. Kolby Jensen picked up his first innings as a Mustangs pitcher, going 2.0 innings and giving up the two earned runs on two hits but also striking out three.

For more information visit GoMustangs.com.