Sanford, Fla., March 12, 2013 – Case Western Reserve University used a five-run fifth inning to break open a one-run game and deal the Washington University in St. Louis baseball team its first loss of the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship Tournament. The Spartans earned a 13-3 win over the Bears in seven innings Tuesday afternoon.
Washington U. (6-4, 2-1 UAA) slipped to a tie for second in the UAA standings with Brandeis University (4-5, 2-1 UAA). Case (5-2, 3-1 UAA) sits in first place after suffering a 4-2 loss to the Judges in 10 innings Tuesday morning. Washington U. returns to action against Brandeis at 11 a.m. (ET) Wednesday. The Bears earned a 5-4 win over the Judges when the two teams played Sunday.
The Spartans jumped on the Bears in the top of the first inning, scoring three runs on three singles and a pair of home runs. Washington U. answered in the bottom of the inning, with three runs on four hits to tie the game at 3-3 after one inning. Freshman Max Golembo and sophomore Chris Lowery hit back-to-back one-out singles, before sophomore Zack Kessinger's RBI-single to right field made the score 3-1. Freshman Kyle Kozak reached on a fielder's choice that allowed Lowery to score. After junior Andrew Dwoskin was hit by a pitch, sophomore Andrew Goldstick singled through the left side on the first pitch he saw to score Kozak and tie the score.
Case broke the tie in the top of the fourth when Matt Keen hit his second solo homerun of the game to give the Spartans a 4-3 lead. In the top of the fifth, Case scored five runs on two hits and four walks to make it a 9-3 game. The Spartans added four more runs, three of which were unearned, in the top of the seventh to make it 13-3, and the Bears were unable to answer in the bottom of the inning to end the game.
Washington U., who had four hits in the first inning, was limited to just three hits in the final six innings. Kessinger (2-for-3, RBI) and Dwoskin (2-for-2) led the way for the Bears offensively. Senior Taylor Berman (1-2) took the loss for Washington U. after giving up seven runs on 12 hits, while striking out six in 4 1/3 innings. Junior Brendan Rooney, senior Alan Komorowski and junior Matt Kenahan combined to throw the final 2 2/3 innings, allowing six runs, just two earned, on six hits and four walks.
Bear Notebook: Kessinger extended his hitting streak to five games … Washington U. is 3-6 against Case since 2009, and has split with the Spartans each of the past two years.