From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
Eight Spartans combined to steal a conference-tournament record 12 bases on Sunday afternoon, as Case Western Reserve University opened play at the 2016 University Athletic Association Championships in Sanford, Florida with a 6-3 win over Brandeis University.
The win was the fourth in the last five games for the Spartans, who moved to 4-4 on the year, and to 1-0 at the UAA Tournament. Brandeis dropped to 3-1 overall, with a 0-1 UAA record.
Junior centerfielder Aaron Cain went three-for-five with a run scored and a stolen base, while sophomore first baseman Daniel Watson reached base four times, including a single in the first inning, and stole three bases. Watson, who began the week ranked fourth in Division III with nine stolen bases, now has 13 through eight games this season.
Junior Jake Shields pitched 6.1 innings to earn the win, scattering 10 hits and allowing just three runs, while striking out five without walking a batter, improving to 2-0 on the year. Senior Connor Tagg thre the final 2.2 scoreless inning, surrendering just one hit and a walk, and picking up his first save of the year.
The Spartans struck early in the game, scoring three runs before recording their first out. After junior left fielder Josh Neal reached on an error to start the game, back-to-back singles from Cain and freshman shortstop Rocco Maue, along with a Brandeis error, brought two runs across. Maue would later add a third run, scoring from third on a wild pitch.
The score remained 3-0 until the bottom of the sixth, when Brandeis scored a pair to cut the lead back to a run, 3-2. The Spartans extended their lead to 4-2 on an infield pinch hit by senior Tyler Schovanec, before Brandeis scored again in the bottom of the inning to reduce the advantage to 4-3. The Judges, would load the bases loaded with one out in the frame, but Tagg entered for CWRU, getting a fly out to right and a strikeout to end the threat.
In the eighth, junior right fielder Tony Damiano scored on a throwing error, as did sophomore second baseman Alex Capetillo in the ninth. Meanwhile, Tagg would allow just one hit the remainder of the game, en route to earning the save.
Senior starter Elio Fernandez took the loss for Brandeis, allowing three runs in 4.1 innings to fall to 1-1 on the year.
The Spartans' 12 stolen bases on 13 attempts surpassed the previous UAA Tournament single-game record of nine, set by Washington University (Mo.) in 2015 and Emory University in 2004.