The Westminster baseball team split with Grinnell College on Saturday afternoon. The Westminster Blue Jays won game one, 1-0, but went on to lose game two 2-1. The Blue Jays are now 4-4 on the season.

Game One

The Blue Jays scored the lone run of game one with a solo home run by senior Tyler Branneky in the bottom of the sixth inning. 

Grinnell outhit the Blue Jays 4-3, but Grinnell's four hits came from the first three innings. The Blue Jays picked up their first hit with a junior Nick Cessna single. In the bottom of the sixth, the Blue Jays added two more hits with the Ty. Branneky home run and another Cessna single up the middle. 

Senior Deion Hughes (3-0) picked up the complete game win from the mound. He faced 27 batters and struck out nine while allowing no runs and just four hits. 

Game Two

Grinnell put up an early run off a sacrifice flyout to right field, but they walked in a run for the Blue Jays in the third inning to tie the game at 1-1. 

Grinnell took back the lead in the seventh inning, which later became the winning run. With a runner on first and third, first stole. He was thrown out at second, but the third base runner made it home to take a 2-1 lead. The Blue Jays were unable to get back on the board, ending the game with a 2-1 loss.  

The Blue Jays outhit Grinnell 7-3, and Hughes went 3-for-4 from the plate. 

Senior Collin Brinker (0-2) was credited with the loss at the mound. He pitched eight innings and struck out eight. 

The Blue Jays begin conference and divisional play on Saturday, March 12 with a home doubleheader versus Fontbonne University starting at 1:00 pm. They close out the three-game series on Sunday, March 13 with a single game in St. Louis, Mo.