From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
Case Western Reserve University senior first baseman Casey McConihe drove in the game-winning run with a two-out single in the bottom of the 10th inning against Alfred State College, giving the Spartans' a 4-3 win over the Pioneers on Monday afternoon. Earlier in the day, the Spartans dropped a 5-0 contest against Roger Williams College at the Spartan Southern Classic at Lexington County Baseball Stadium in Lexington, South Carolina.
With the split, the Spartans now stand at 3-5 overall on the season.
Game 1: Roger Williams 5, CWRU 0
Case Western Reserve struggled at the plate during their first game of the day, collecting just four hits in a 5-0 loss to Roger Williams.
Junior Jake Ryan, McConihe, first-year Flynn Lenahan and junior Benjamin Stawicki each had base hits in the game for CWRU, and McConihe and Stawicki each had two walks apiece. However, the Spartans hit into three double plays in the game and left 10 men on base in the shutout.
Roger Williams scored two runs in the first and added another in the second against CWRU junior starter Matt Levine, taking a 3-0 lead over the Spartans. CWRU loaded the bases in the bottom of the second, but couldn't capitalize, and left two runners on base in the bottom of the third. The fourth and fifth innings for CWRU both ended in double plays, and the Hawks took a 5-0 lead with two runs (one earned) in the top of the fifth.
The Spartans received solid relief outings from both first-year southpaw Jonathan Simon and sophomore righty Willem Bouma. Simon gave up just two runs, one earned, over three innings of work, while Bouma pitched a pair of scoreless innings, striking out three batters and walking one.
Levine took the loss, dropping to 0-2 on the season.
Justin Garcia earned the win with seven scoreless innings against the Spartans, improving to 1-2 on the season, while Matt Vernacatola and Craig Demers each added scoreless frames to close out the victory. Roger Williams improved to 3-3 on the year with the victory.
Game 2: CWRU 4, Alfred State 3 (10 innings)
CWRU rallied with two outs for a run in the bottom of the 10th inning to pick up the 4-3 win over Alfred State and secure a split on the day.
After the first two batters in the tenth inning were retired, Ryan singled and first-year pitcher/ designated hitter Benjamin Gorski reached on an error to put runners on first and second. McConihe followed sending a 3-1 pitch into centerfield for a single, and scoring Ryan from second and giving the Spartans the victory.
Ryan's single in the 10th inning extended his hitting streak to 15 games, dating back to last year. McConihe stretched his hitting streak to seven-straight games with his walk-off hit.
Gorski played a big role in the game as well, starting the game on the mound and allowing just one run on four hits and two walks, while striking out seven batters over seven innings of work. He also picked up the first hit of the game for the Spartans, singling with two outs in the bottom of the fourth against Alfred State starter Anthony Santobuono and coming around to score later in the inning on a single by Lenahan that tied the score at 1-1.
CWRU took its first lead of the game in the fifth, taking advantage of an error by the Pioneers to score two more runs. The Spartans maintained a 3-1 lead until the eighth, when Alfred State scored a run to pull within a run. In the ninth, the Pioneers put runners on the corners with nobody out. First-year pitcher Jackson Morris entered the game, and despite allowing the tying run to score on a sacrifice fly, he kept the go-ahead run from crossing the plate, and pitched a scoreless top of the tenth, giving the Spartans the chance to win it in the bottom of the frame.
Making his second appearance in three days, Morris picked up the first win of his collegiate career, improving to 1-0 on the year. He allowed just one walk over his two hitless, scoreless innings of work.
Santobuono went the distance for Alfred State, taking the loss to drop to 2-1 on the campaign.