From Washington University Athletics
The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team defeated No. 24 Suffolk University 7-5 as senior pitchers Brad Margolin and Matt Clohisycombined to strikeout 15 Rams Thursday morning in Auburndale, Fla. at Lake Myrtle.
WashU improved to 8-5 on the season with its first victory of the year versus a ranked opponent, while Suffolk dropped to 4-3. The Bears 15 combined strikeouts are the most since April 19, 2010 in a 4-1 loss to Webster University when Jeremy Rogoff struck out 15.
The Bears struck first in the top of the third inning when senior Ted Daley led the inning off with a single and advanced to third base on back-to-back sacrifice bunts by freshman Brian Schutter and sophomore John Ostrander. Senior leadoff hitter Austin Darmawan singled down the left field line to score Daley and give WashU a 1-0 lead.
Margolin held the Rams scoreless for opening three innings but Suffolk took the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Suffolk's Kevin Belskie tripled in a run before scoring on an error to put the Rams ahead 2-1.
WashU trailed by two after the Rams scored another run in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly plated BJ Neil after he reached third with a triple.
The Bears responded with three runs in the sixth inning to take the lead. Freshman John Brinkman doubled to leadoff the sixth before scoring on back-to-back errors. Senior Ben Browdy scored on a sacrifice fly by junior Conor O'Hara to knot the game up at 3-3 before sophomore Tyler Diamond's single through the right side plated senior Christian Santos.
Margolin kept the Rams in check for innings six-eight, including a perfect six inning which he struck out the side.
Browdy added two runs to the Bears lead in the top of the ninth with a home run that scored Brinkman. It was Browdy's third homer of the season and increased his season RBI total to 20.
The Rams threatened the Bears in the bottom half of the ninth after loading the bases with two singles and an error. Margolin exited the game for Clohisy, who got the first two batters he faced to strike out swinging. Suffolk's Connor Troio brought the Rams within two runs as he knocked in two with a two run-scoring single but Clohisy fanned the final batter to earn his second save of the season.
Margolin improved to 3-0 on the year with a career-high 12 strikeouts over eight-plus innings of work, allowing five runs, only two earned runs, six hits and one walk. His previous high was nine which he had accomplished twice: April 9, 2016 (Fontbonne) and Feb. 27, 2016 (Greenville).
Browdy was the lone Bear to record more than one hit as he finished the day 2-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Brinkman led the team with three runs scored.