SAUGET, Ill. - Webster Baseball opened St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play here Saturday afternoon by taking the first game of the doubleheader against Westminster (Mo.) College 7-0 at GCS Credit Union Ballpark. 

Saturday's SLIAC game was the first for the Gorloks since May 4, 2019 against Blackburn College as Webster's 2020 conference season was cancelled due to the worldwide outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

With the win, third-ranked Webster improves to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in the SLIAC, while Westminster suffers its first loss of the season to fall to 3-1 overall and 0-1 in the league. 

The win was aided by another strong starting pitching performance from graduate student All-American Matt Mulhearn (Chicago Heights, Ill./Marian Catholic) as the right-hander tossed eight shutout innings and allowed three hits and struck out nine in his 97 pitch effort. With his nine strikeouts, Mulhearn moves into a tie with Isaac Behme on the school's career strikeout chart with 257. 

Mulhearn (3-0) lowered his season ERA to 0.41 as in 22 innings, he has allowed just 11 hits and one run in 22 innings and has recorded 30 strikeouts and walked just two. 

Along with Mulhearn's strong pitching, the Gorloks offense recorded eight hits, including a 2-for-4 day at the plate from fifth-year senior designated hitter A.J. Smith (DuQuoin, Ill./DuQuoin). 

The Gorloks opened the game by plating two runs on one hit and two stolen bases in the bottom of the first. The lone hit in the inning was an RBI triple to left off the bat of fourth-year junior All-American third baseman Ben Swords (Freeport, Ill./Freeport), which plated fourth-junior rightfielder Adam Lovell (Lafayette, Ind./Saint Joseph's College), who walked to lead off the inning. Swords would score later in the inning on an RBI groundout by A.J. Smith. 

That run would be all the Gorloks would need as Mulhearn would be perfect through four innings as he recorded six strikeouts among the first 12 hitters he faced, before allowing two singles in the fifth as Derek Shikles led off the inning with a single to right center and Parker Schneiders would reach on a one-out single to left center.

Westminster's other hit in game came in the sixth as Hayden Hirschvogel reached on a two-out single to left. 

While Mulhearn was effective on the mound, so too, was Blue Jay freshman hurler Grant Higginbotham (1-1) as he allowed just two runs and one hit, while walking five and striking out one through the first five innings before being replaced in the sixth by Jacbo Waeltermann. 

Higginbotham entered Saturday's game having not walked a batter on the season. 

In the sixth, the first batter Waeltermann faced was Smith and he drilled a 1-1 pitch up the middle for a single, but would be stranded at first as Waeltermann retired the next three Gorloks in order. 

In the bottom of the seventh, graduate student centerfielder Aron Hopp (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln College) led off with a single to right, but with Lovell at the plate, Hopp was thrown out trying to steal second. After Hopp's caught stealing, Lovell recorded a double down the left field line against Blue Jay reliever Chase Holder and after Swords drew a four pitch walk, Holder got out of the jam by forcing graduate student All-American first baseman Kyler Kent (Pottsboro, Texas/Pottsboro) to ground out to end the inning.

In the top of the eighth, Mulhearn retired the Blue Jays in order, inclduing striking out Steven Diaz for the third time in the game. 

Webster broke the game open in the bottom of the eighth as they exploded for five runs, including scoring two of them on a 2-run homer that cleared the fence in right off the bat of freshman catcher R.J. LaRocco (San Diego, Calif./Point Loma). The homer was LaRocco's team leading second of the season. The other three runs come home on an RBI single by fourth-year junior shortstop Matt Staker (El Cajon, Calif./Saint Augustine), an RBI off a fielder's choice by Hopp and an RBI on a bunt by Lovell. 

Second-year junior pitcher Bobby Strandt (Frisco, Texas/University of Arkansas) pitched a perfect ninth to preserve the shutout. 

Both teams left a combined 13 runners on base in the game as Webster stranded eight runners and Westminster left five on base. 

The second game the doubleheader is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. and will be a nine inning contest. The teams will then conclude the four-game SLIAC series this coming Wednesday, March 16 as they play another doubleheader with the first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m. The two teams will play seven inning game, followed by a nine inning game.