From Washington University Athletics
The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team equaled its season-high with 17 hits as the Bears moved into a tie for first in the conference standings with a 17-3 seven-inning win over Brandeis University Wednesday evening at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship.
With the win, WashU improved to 9-3 overall and 3-1 in the UAA. Brandeis dropped to 4-3 overall and 1-3 in the conference. Midway through the UAA Championship schedule, the Bears are tied with No. 3 Emory University and Case Western Reserve University for first in the conference standings. WashU squares off against Case at 2 p.m. (ET) Thursday.
The Bears wasted no time gaining a lead against Brandeis, with junior Austin Darmawan and senior Max Golembo hitting back-to-back singles to start the game. Junior Ben Browdy was hit by a pitch and junior Christian Santos drew a bases-loaded walk, giving the Bears a 1-0 lead after just 11 pitches. WashU ended up sending 10 batters to the plate in the opening frame, grabbing a 6-0 lead after RBI singles by freshman Ethan Kuehl and senior Kyle Kozak, a two-RBI single by junior Ted Daley and a sacrifice fly by junior Spencer Egly.
WashU added two more runs in the top of the second to make it 8-0. Sophomore Conor O'Hara hit a two-out RBI single, then came around to score on a wild pitch. Brandeis took advantage of an error by the Bears to get on the scoreboard with a run in the bottom of the third. The score remained 8-1 until WashU put up another six runs in the top of the fifth with RBIs by Darmawan, Golembo, Santos, O'Hara and Kuehl.
A two-out single by freshman Evan Nagel made it 15-1 in favor of the Bears in the top of the sixth. WashU added two more runs in the top of the seventh with RBI singles by freshman Wright Lindgren and Darmawan. The Judges took advantage of a WashU error to plate two unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh to make the final score 17-3.
WashU had 11 different individuals record hits as the Bears equaled their season-high with 17 hits. WashU also had 10 batters record RBIs in the game. Santos finished 3-for-3 with two RBIS and three runs scored. Darmawan also finished with three hits (3-for-6), two RBIs and two runs, while Daley and O'Hara had two hits apiece.
Freshman Zack Kotin (1-0) earned the first win of his career in his first start of the year. He allowed just two hits and an unearned run in five innings of work. Freshmen Sean Clarke and Dylan Brambora each pitched an inning of relief and did not allow any earned runs for the Bears, who now have a 1.66 team ERA.
Bear Notebook: WashU is now to 83-75 all-time in the UAA Championship … Kotin became the sixth different pitcher to earn a win for WashU this season … Just one of WashU's 17 hits in the game was for extra bases … It was the eighth time this season WashU has scored in the first inning, and the Bears have outscored their opponents 20-7 in the first inning this season … The Bears had a season-high four batters hit by pitches in the game … It was the 110th game in Golembo's career that he reached base safely.