From Washington University Athletics
Eleven different players recorded hits, including seven with extra-base hits, to lead the Washington University in St. Louis baseball team to a sweep of two seven-inning games at Principia College Tuesday evening. The Bears used a six-run sixth inning to win game one 9-3, before scoring 12 runs in the fourth and fifth innings of a 14-5 victory in game two.
WashU improved to 25-12 on the season with the wins, while Principia dropped to 7-19. The Bears return to action by hosting Iowa Wesleyan College at 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 22, at Kelly Field.
GAME ONE – WASHU 9, PRINCIPIA 3
The Bears grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when senior Chris Lowery hit a two-out single and stole second ahead of an RBI single by senior Zack Kessinger. In the bottom of the second, Principia got on the scoreboard with an unearned run to tie the game at 1-1. The Bears regained a 2-1 lead in the top of the third on a one-out solo homerun by Lowery, before a solo homerun for the Panthers again tied the game in the bottom of the inning.
The scored remained knotted at 2-2 until the top of the sixth when WashU sent 10 batters to the plate and scored six runs on six hits to break the game open. Senior Andrew Goldstick got things started with a one-out single. Junior Max Golembo drew a walk and sophomore Austin Darmawan followed with a single to load the bases. Lowery came through with a two-RBI single and Kessinger followed with a two-RBI double to extend WashU's lead to 6-2. Sophomore CJ Price singled to move Kessinger to third, and senior Brandon Deger drove in a run with a groundout to third. Junior Kyle Kozak then singled to score Price and give the Bears an 8-2 cushion.
Principia loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the sixth, and scored a run with a walk to cut WashU's lead to 8-3, but senior Dom Quaranta got a strikeout and a double play to get out of the inning without allowing any more runs. The Bears got the run back in the top of the seventh. Goldstick led off with a double and came around to score on a one-out error to make it 9-3. Quaranta kept Principia off the scoreboard in the bottom of the inning to earn a complete-game victory on the mound.
WashU outhit Principia 15-3 in the game, but the Bears left 10 runners on base. Darmawan (3-for-4, double, run), Lowery (3-for-4, homerun, three RBIs, three runs), Kessinger (3-for-4, double, three RBIs, run) and Goldstick (3-for-4, doubles, two runs) accounted for 12 of the Bears' 15 hits. Quaranta (3-1) allowed two earned runs on three hits and five walks, while recording a season-high seven strikeouts.
GAME TWO – WASHU 14, PRINCIPIA 5
The Bears again grabbed the early lead in game two, scoring on an RBI single by Price in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the second, Principia took its first lead of the night. The Panthers took advantage of three walks to plate three runs o just one hit in the inning to take a 3-1 lead.
WashU regained control in the top of the fourth. Sophomore Christian Santos hit the first homerun of his career, a one-out solo shot to bring the Bears within 3-2. Goldstick reached on a walk and came around to score on a two-out single by Darmawan to tie the game. Lowery followed with a single and a two-RBI double by Kessinger put WashU ahead 5-3.
The Bears broke the game open with eight runs in the top of the fifth. Santos walked and Goldstick singled, before Golembo reached on an error to load the bases. Darmawan drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and Lowery followed with an RBI single to make it 7-3 in favor of the Bears. After Kessinger was hit by a pitch, Price and Deger hit back-to-back two-RBI singles to push the lead to 11-3. Sophomore Ben Browdy kept the inning going with a double, and Deger scored on a wild pitch before a two-out RBI single by Golembo made it 13-3 WashU.
The Panthers plated one run each in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings to pull to within 13-5 before senior Stewart Martens hit a pinch-hit solo homerun to make it 14-5 in the top of the seventh. Junior Billy Meyer got three called strikeouts in the bottom of the seventh to seal the win for the Bears.
WashU totaled 17 hits in the game, compared with eight for Principia. Darmawan led the Bears offensively going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Five other individuals had multi-hit performances for the Bears, and Price finished with a team-high three RBIs in game two. Freshman Liam Cotter (3-2) picked up the win in his fifth start of the season, allowing five runs on eight hits and three walks. Cotter also finished with four strikeouts in his six innings of work.
Bear Notebook: WashU improved to 8-1 in road games this season … The Bears are 15-6 when scoring the first run of the game … WashU has tallied double-digit hits in 23 games this season, including seven of the last eight contests … Santos and Martens became the fifth and sixth different individuals to hit homeruns for the Bears this season … Kessinger passed Brandon Rogalski (2009-12) for second on WashU's all-time career hits leaderboard with 219, nine behind Lowery … Kessinger also increased his career doubles total to 43, moving him into a tie with Rogalski for fourth on the Bears' all-time leaderboard … Lowery brought his career runs scored total to 125, moving him into ninth on the WashU all-time career list … Kessinger has hit at least one double in six of the last eight games, including each of the last four … Kessinger has reached base safely in 42 consecutive games dating to April 30, 2014, the ninth-longest streak in NCAA Division III history.