SANTA BARBARA, CA – A pair of solo home runs helped Menlo College Baseball apply pressure to Westmont early in the series and season finale out at Russell Carr Field, but after the Warriors claimed a 2-0 win in the first part of Saturday's doubleheader, the home team rallied with long balls of their own down the stretch to top the Oaks 5-2 in Menlo's last game of 2026.
Oaks Statistical Leaders
Jack van Gorkum (G2): 2-2, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB
Shane Aldridge (G1+2): 2-7, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R
Javier DaRosa Fonseca Jr. (G2): 2-3
Nolan Rodriguez (G1): 2.2 IP, 2 K, 0 BB, 0 R, 1 H
Jacob Baca (G1): 1.0 IP, 2 K, 0 BB, 0 R, 1 H
Michael Karlin (G2): 1.0 IP, 1 K, 0 BB, 0 R, 0 H
Game One: Westmont 2 - 0 Menlo
Westmont's combination of a double and a single in the second inning produced the only run of the game through the first four frames as
Jace Villanueva and the Menlo defense kept the margin with the Warriors close. In the fifth, a leadoff single was followed by a walk, a stolen base, and a sacrifice fly for the second and final run of the contest for Westmont. The Oaks' best scoring opportunity arose in the ninth inning when
Noah Morton began with a single and
Noah Pang legged out an infield hit shortly thereafter. The bases became loaded on a walk two batters later, but the home team managed to escape with no damage done.
Game Two: Westmont 5 - 2 Menlo
It only took one pitch for Menlo to gain a lead in the series finale with
Shane Aldridge homering to center mere seconds into the contest. That 1-0 advantage held until the second inning when the Warriors responded with a two-run rally, but the Oaks quickly retied the score at 2-2 on the second home run of the year, a solo shot, from
Jack van Gorkum in the third frame. Two more homers by Westmont helped them break the tie and eventually go on to win 5-2 despite the Oaks putting at least one runner on in each of the final four innings.
Season In Review
Adding six victories to last year's total, Menlo Baseball delivered plenty of achievements in 2026. The program's first season under Head Coach
Mike Givens featured four Pacific West Conference weekly honors (
Matt Morrison,
Oliver Hogan,
Mason Hanshaw, and
Nolan Rodriguez) and one NCBWA West Region Pitcher of the Week award that went to Rodriguez on
Mar. 31.
The Oaks split five PacWest series, logged at least one win against all but two conference teams, and took three of four from Azusa Pacific including a memorable doubleheader sweep on
Senior Day. In the end, Menlo finished the year 17-29 overall and 15-28 in conference play.
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