From Washington University Athletics
The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team earned a 10-6 victory over the University of Chicago in game one, but let a 9-1 lead slip away as the Maroons won game two of the doubleheader 16-13 Saturday afternoon at Kelly Field.
WashU moved to 22-12 overall with the split, while Chicago stands at 9-14. The teams are scheduled to play a third game in the weekend series. Sunday's game, originally scheduled for a Noon first pitch, has been moved up to an 11 a.m. start, and will be played at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Ill. Prior to the game, WashU will recognize its 10 seniors for Senior Day.
GAME ONE – WASHU 10, CHICAGO 6
The Maroons took the early lead in game one, scoring two runs in the top of the first to grab a 2-0 advantage before senior Max Zhang got a strikeout to end the inning. The Bears answered in the bottom of the second. Senior Zack Kessinger drew a leadoff walk and sophomore CJ Price was hit by the first pitch of his at-bat. Senior Brandon Deger singled through the hole between third and shortstop to load the bases. Senior Andrew Goldstick reached on a fielder's choice bunt, but Kessinger was out at home to keep the Bears off the scoreboard, before sophomore Ben Browdy drew a bases loaded walk and senior Stewart Martens followed with a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 2-2.
WashU took the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Deger led off with a double to deep left-center and Goldstick drew a walk. Martens then lined a full-count pitch just fair down the right-field line for a one-out RBI double. Junior Max Golembo followed with a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 4-2. Sophomore Austin Darmawan was hit by a pitch, and senior Chris Lowery drove an RBI single up the middle to give the Bears a three-run lead.
The Bears sent all nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the fifth, scoring three runs on four hits and two walks. Deger reached on a one-out walk, and Browdy hit a two-out single to right field, before Martens delivered an RBI single to make it 6-2 in favor of WashU. Golembo followed with an RBI single, and Darmawan reached on a bunt single to load the bases. Lowery drew a walk to extend the lead to 8-2 before a strikeout ended the inning. The Bears took advantage of a pair of two-out errors by Chicago to add two more unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Chicago cut the Bears' lead to 10-5 on a three-run homer by Ryan Krob in the top of the seventh. The Maroons added an unearned run in the top of the eighth to pull to within 10-6, but the Bears turned a game-ending double play to seal the four-run win in the ninth.
WashU finished with 13 hits in the game, while Chicago had nine. The Bears also drew seven walks from the Chicago pitchers in the win. Lowery led the Bears offensively, finishing 3-for-3 with two walks and two RBIs. Golembo (2-for-4, two RBIs), Deger (2-for-3, double, three runs) and Martens (2-for-4, double, three RBIs, two runs) added two hits each.
Zhang (3-2) earned the win after scattering seven hits and three walks, and allowing four earned runs while striking out five. Junior Cameron Adams surrendered an unearned run in the eighth inning, while striking out two batters, and sophomore Bill Heisler pitched a scoreless ninth inning to finish the game for the Bears.
GAME TWO – CHICAGO 16, WASHU 13
WashU scored the first run of game two in the bottom of the second inning. Kessinger led off with a double down the left-field line and moved to third on a dropped third strike. Deger hit a ball to the infield, and Kessinger was able to slide under the throw to the plate to put WashU ahead 1-0.
In the bottom of the third, Golembo, Darmawan, Lowery and Kessinger hit four straight one-out singles, with Lowery and Kessinger each driving in a run with their hits. Price drew a walk, and Deger hit a two-RBI single to extend the lead to 5-0. The Maroons scored an unearned run in the top of the fifth to cut the Bears' lead to 5-1, before WashU plated four runs on four hits in the bottom of the inning to build a 9-1 advantage. Darmawan lined a leadoff double and stole third before scoring on an RBI single by Lowery. Kessinger drew a walk, and Price reached on an error by Chicago to score Lowery and extend the lead to 7-1. Kessinger scored on an RBI groundout by Deger, before sophomore Christian Santos singled to left field to score Price and make it 9-1 in favor of the Bears.
Chicago began chipping away at the Bears' lead, scoring one run in the sixth and two in the seventh to close to within 9-4. The Maroons then took advantage of a pair of WashU errors in the top of the eighth to score five runs, including four unearned, to tie the game at 9-9. In the bottom of the eighth, the Bears got the bases loaded with two outs after Goldstick hit a single to left field, Golembo was hit by a pitch and Darmawan laid down a bunt single along the third-base line, but a fielder's choice to second ended the inning with the score still tied 9-9.
Chicago broke the game open in the top of the ninth, plating seven runs on five hits, two walks and two batters hit by pitches, to take a 16-9 lead. After giving up 15 unanswered runs to the Maroons, WashU battled in the bottom of the ninth. Kessinger was hit by a pitch and Price drew a walk as the Bears put two runners on to start the inning. After a pitching change, Deger roped a two-RBI double over the Chicago center fielder to make it 16-11. Goldstick then hit a one-out triple deep over the center fielder to make it 16-12. Browdy hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring WashU to within 16-13, but a fly ball to center field ended the game.
WashU outhit Chicago 14-13 in the game, but the Bears were hampered by season-highs of six errors and 11 walks issued. Darmawan finished 3-for-5 with a double, two steals and two runs to lead five WashU batters who had multi-hit performances in the game. Deger was 2-for-5 with a double, a run scored and a career-high six RBIs. Lowery (2-for-5, two runs, two RBIs), Kessinger (2-for-3, double, RBI, four runs) and Goldstick (2-for-5, triple, RBI, run) also added two hits each.
Senior Kunal Patel threw 6 1/3 innings, allowing four runs, including one unearned. He gave up just four hits, but issued six walks, while striking out five. Senior Ian Kelso pitched 2/3 of an inning, giving up five runs, just one earned, on three hits and two walks. Sophomore Matt Clohisy (2-2) took the loss after allowing five runs on three hits and three walks in 1 2/3 innings. Sophomore Jake Mintz (two runs on two hits) and senior Dom Quaranta (one hit) combined to throw the final 1/3 of an inning.
Bear Notebook: WashU have now tallied double-digit hits in 21 games this season, including each of the last five … The Bears also scored double-digit runs for the third and fourth games in a row … Zhang appeared in his 47th career game on the mound, tying Matt Feigenbaum (1983-86) and Brian Stupp (1987-90) for fourth on WashU's career games pitched list … Goldstick made his 150th career start at shortstop in game one … The triple in the ninth inning of game two was the first of Goldstick's career … Kessinger moved up to seventh on the WashU career doubles list with the 39th of his career … Lowery passed Kevin Lux (1998-01) for fifth on WashU's all-time career RBI leaderboard with 137 … Deger and Goldstick both extended their hitting streaks to eight games, while Darmawan has hit safely in each of the last seven … Kessinger has reached base safely in all 34 games this season, and has a 39-game reached base streak dating to April 30, 2014.