Game Recap By Don Gilmore, TMU Assistant SID

If Monte Brooks was looking for his ace to make a statement, he got it Friday afternoon.

Senior hurler Robert Winslow (pictured above) delivered when needed most, shutting out No. 15 Vanguard 7-0 to give The Master’s University a split doubleheader with the Lions.

Vanguard won the opener 11-6.

The Mustangs are now 10-8-1 overall and 3-5 in the GSAC, four games back of Vanguard.

“It was a phenomenal outing by Rob today,” said Brooks. “A great way to bounce back after a tough loss.”

That tough loss was engineered by Vanguard’s Chad Sutton, who homered in back-to-back frames in the opener. His two-run shot in the fourth forged a 4-1 lead and his three-run blast an inning later made it a 9-1 game.

The Mustangs rallied within 9-6 after scoring once in the fifth, three more times in the sixth, and once more in the seventh.

Aaron Shackelford, who swatted his 12th homer of the year in the last of the first to tie the game at 1-1, drove in Byron Smith in the fifth with a single to right field.

In the sixth, Kameron Quitno doubled in Brayden Luft and Smith’s double to left-center field drove in two more. An inning later, Roy Verdejo scored on an error and the Mustangs were within three.

However, the Lions countered with two runs in the ninth to ensure the victory.

That was the last time the Lions scored.

Winslow made sure of that with what may have been his best start of 2019.

The Saugus High product shut out the University of Antelope Valley 9-0 on February 9, scattering three hits and striking out six in a six-inning complete game.

Nearly four weeks later on a cloudy, cold afternoon at Herwaldt Stadium, he was even better, going the distance in a seven-inning nightcap that featured nine strikeouts.

It was Winslow’s third complete game of his senior season as he lowered his ERA to 2.34 while improving to 4-1. He has struck out 44 batters in 34 2/3 innings.

Two of those whiffs came in the first inning when he set the Lions down in order.

He retired the first six batters he faced and didn’t give up a hit until the fourth.

His teammates gave him an immediate cushion when Anthony Lepre hit a three-run homer to left-center in the bottom of the first, scoring Nick Tuttle and Shackelford in front of him.

It was senior transfer’s 10th homer of the year.

In the second inning, Tuttle doubled in Will Batz and Quitno to give the Mustangs a 5-0 lead.

Two innings later, the club closed out its scoring when Shackelford drew a bases-loaded walk and Batz scored on a double-play groundout.

The Mustangs made the most of four hits in game two.

Here are the box scores for Game 1 and Game 2.