CLEVELAND, OH – Sophomore lefty Jamie Hora (Twinsburg, OH/Twinsburg) threw a two-hit gem in game one and the Case Western Reserve University baseball team swept a doubleheader with the University of Mount Union on Saturday, April 23 at Nobby's Ballpark. The Spartans won the opener, 4-1, then took game two, 5-4.
The Spartans improve to 30-12 for the season, having won 16 of their last 18. Mount Union falls to 13-16.
For the twinbill, senior third baseman Chad Mullins (Fredericksburg, OH/Waynedale) was a combined 3-for-5 with a homer and four runs batted-in, adding to his nation-leading totals of 79 hits and 69 RBI. Junior right fielder Sam Alexander (Alexandria, VA/T.C. Williams) was 3-for-6 with a double, a triple, a home run and three RBI.
In the opener, Mount Union got a solo homerun in the second inning but Case tied the game when sophomore shortstop Matt Keen (Tallmadge, OH/Tallmadge) doubled to lead off the fourth then came around to score on a groundout by Alexander. In the fifth, the Spartans got back-to-back doubles by senior designated hitter Cory Pecoraro (Strongsville, OH/Benedictine) and senior catcher Steve Bills (Greensburg, PA/Hempfield) to lead off the inning. After a pair of walks to load the bases, Mullins drove in two with a single to center.
Hora improved his record on the mound to 7-3 with his fifth complete game. He struck out two and did not walk a batter.
In game two, Mullins blasted a two-run homer to dead center in the first for his team-leading eighth of the season. The long ball was the 21st of his career, just one shy of the school-record. Mullins already holds the CWRU records for hits and RBI.
Alexander followed Mullins with his fourth homer of the year to make the score 3-0 after one inning. The Raiders chipped away and got the score to 3-2, but Alexander drove Mullins home with a triple in the fifth to make the score 4-2. Junior second baseman Bobby Marko (Lyndhurst, OH/Brush) added an RBI single as well as in the inning.
Freshman Ray Kelly (Rochester, NY/Aquinas Institute) started on the mound and threw the first four innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits with one strikeout to move to 5-0. Junior A.J. Boshinski (Alpharetta, GA/St. Pius X) threw 1.1 scoreless innings in relief for the hold and freshman Jose Vega (Strongsville, OH/Padua Franciscan) closed the door with 1.2 innings for his third save.
The Spartans play their final scheduled regular season game on Wednesday, April 27 versus local-rival John Carroll. First pitch is set for 4:00 p.m. at Nobby's Ballpark. The game was moved from its originally scheduled date on Monday.