Offense explodes in divisional finale at Westminster

Fulton, Mo. - Fontbonne baseball pulled through with a much-needed victory Saturday evening! The Griffins defeated Westminster on the road 20-12, taking the divisional series 2-1. The win puts the Griffins 6-6 in conference, one game behind the Blue Jays (7-5) in the West Division. Webster leads the division with a 7-2 SLIAC record.

Fontbonne hit 27 times in the game, a team-high since the 2008 season. Their 20 runs scored is the highest since 2014.

Brendan Beck got into trouble right away as Westminster scored seven runs in the first two innings off seven hits.

Fontbonne's 4-3 lead in the second was quickly wiped away when the hosts scored four more runs. Sophomore Matt Tossick got the Griffins on the scoreboard when he hit his first career collegiate home run, a three-run shot. Jonathan Hoevelmann got a hold of the ball as the next Fontbonne player to step up to the plate when he tripled and then scored on Michael Golich's single.

After two innings, the Griffins had turned two double plays and trailed 7-4. With Michael Puckett Jr. on the mound, Fontbonne out-scored Westminster 6-3 to tie the game after five innings. The Griffins scored three runs in the third and another three on back-to-back home runs by Patrick Shuff and Ethan Borrowman in the fourth inning.

Brett Lange took over on the mound for Fontbonne with a new game on the line. The Griffins came up big and scored four runs in the seventh inning off of five hits. After Westminster scored a lone run in the bottom half of the inning, Fontbonne crossed the plate six more times in the eighth to finish their scoring rout.

Joey Clemente pitched a scoreless eighth for Fontbonne when Cole Lankford took over in the ninth. The Blue Jays plated one more run with two outs before the Griffins closed out their 11th victory on the year.

Brett Lange earned his first win of the season coming in with a tied ball-game. He allowed two hits and one run. Lange left the game with the Griffins ahead 20-11.

Boyer stole four bases on the day as he went four-for-seven with three RBI and two runs scored.

Hoevelmann hit five times on six at-bats. He scored three times and brought in one run. Shuff and Greenway both walked twice. Shuff went three-for-four and scored a game-high four times.

Logan Meuth tallied a game-high four RBI. Ethan Borrowman recorded three RBI and scored twice. Golich went five-for-seven with two runs scored.

The Griffins play a non-conference matchup at Missouri S&T Tuesday before they have a big series ahead in their travels to Iowa Wesleyan next weekend. The Griffins need to win the three-game series against their divisional foes to keep up with Westminster in the West Division standings.