From Washington University Athletics
The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team held off late-inning rallies by Greenville College to earn a doubleheader sweep on the road Saturday. The Bears won 5-4 in the seven-inning first game, before picking up a 9-7 victory in game two.
WashU improved to 15-5 on the season with the two wins, while Greenville fell to 5-10. The Bears return to Kelly Field for a nine-game home stand beginning at 3 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, when they host No. 25 Webster University.
GAME ONE - WashU 5, Greenville 4
Greenville got on the scoreboard first with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the third inning to take a 1-0 lead. The Bears answered in the top of the fourth when sophomore CJ Price drew a leadoff walk before scoring on an RBI groundout by senior Chris Lowery to tie the game at one run each. In the bottom of the inning, the Panthers strung together three straight one-out singles to regain a 2-1 lead.
The Bears sent eight batters to the plate in the top of the fifth inning, scoring four runs on four hits and a walk. Junior Kyle Kozak hit a one-out single to right field to get the rally started for the Bears. Sophomore Austin Darmawan reached on a two-out walk, and Price reached on a fielder's choice with all runners safe to load the bases. Lowery then hit his first triple of the season, driving in three runs to put WashU ahead 4-2, before a single by senior Zack Kessinger made it 5-2 in favor of the Bears heading to the bottom of the fifth.
WashU maintained the three-run lead until the bottom of the seventh. The first two batters for Greenville reached on walks, and a one-out single cut the lead to 5-3 and brought the winning run to the plate for the Panthers. Senior Dom Quaranta got a called strikeout, but another single made the score 5-4 with runners on the corners for Greenville. After a walk loaded the bases again, sophomore Matt Clohisy got a called strikeout to end the game and seal the win for the Bears.
WashU was limited to four hits in the game, while Greenville finished with nine. Lowery was part of all five runs scored by the Bears, finishing 1-for-4 with four RBIs and a run. Senior Kunal Patel (3-0) earned the win, allowing two runs on seven hits in six innings of work. Clohisy picked up his fifth save of the season, recording a strikeout on the final out of the game for the Bears.
GAME TWO - WashU 9, Greenville 7
WashU jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the second inning of game two. Senior Brian Cizek led off with a single and sophomore Ben Browdy followed with a double to left field that scored Cizek to make it 1-0. Sophomore Scott Nelson reached on a one-out error and senior Andrew Goldstick drew a walk to load the bases for the Bears. Price then reached on a two-out walk to score Browdy, before a single by Lowery drove in two more runs to extend the lead to 4-0.
In the top of the third, the Bears got three straight two-out singles by Browdy, sophomore Christian Santos and Nelson added another run for the Bears. Goldstick then singled to left field and an error on the play allowed Santos to score to make it 6-0 in favor of WashU. The Panthers got on the scoreboard with an unearned run in the bottom of the third, and a solo homerun in the bottom of the fourth cut the Bears' lead to 6-2.
Browdy led off the top of the fifth for the Bears with a single and Santos reached on an error. After a sacrifice bunt by Nelson, Goldstick lined a double to left field to drive in Browdy and Santos and push WashU's lead back to six runs (8-2). Greenville got four one-out singles and a walk to score two runs in the bottom of the fifth, but Lowery threw out a runner at the plate and junior Julian Clarke got a strikeout to get out of the inning with WashU leading 8-4.
In the bottom of the eighth, Greenville put together a two-out rally to cut the Bears' lead to 8-6. A double and a single drove in two runs for the Panthers, who got the tying run to second base before senior pitcher Ian Kelso got a groundout back to him to end the inning with WashU leading by two. The Bears added an insurance run in the top of the ninth when Cizek hit a leadoff double to center field. After senior Stewart Martens pinch ran for Cizek, Browdy bunted Martens to third and Nelson drew a two-out walk to put runners on the corners. The Bears executed a double steal, with Martens stealing home to put WashU up 9-6 heading to the bottom of the ninth. Greenville brought the tying run to the plate after a leadoff double and a walk, scoring a run on a sacrifice fly before a called strikeout and a fly out to right field ended the game.
Lowery (3-for-4, two RBIs) and Browdy (3-for-4, three runs, RBI) each finished with three hits to lead WashU, who had 13 as a team. Greenville finished with 11 hits in the game, but was hampered by five errors that led to five unearned runs for the Bears. Clarke (1-1) earned the win, allowing four runs, including one unearned, on eight hits, while recording a career-high eight strikeouts in seven innings. Clohisy got his second save of the day and sixth of the season after allowing one run on one hit and a walk, while striking out one in the ninth inning.
Bear Notebook: WashU is 9-3 this season when scoring the first run of the game … The Bears have tallied double-digit hits in 11 games this season … The two wins gave fifth-year Head Coach Steve Duncan 125 career victories at WashU … Lowery's six RBIs on the day brought his career total to 118, passing Bob Wallace (1992-95) for 10th on WashU's all-time career list … Kessinger played in his 143rd and 144th career games for the Bears, tying him for ninth on WashU's all-time list … Clohisy's six saves makes him one shy of the WashU single-season record set by Jason French in 1992 … Lowery extended his hitting streak to 16 games … Lowery and Kessinger have reached base safely in all 20 games for WashU.