St. Louis, Mo., April 17, 2013 – The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team scored six unanswered runs in the sixth through eighth innings, then held on for an 8-4 win over Blackburn College Wednesday afternoon at Kelly Field.
Washington U. took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Sophomore Zack Kessinger led off the inning with a double to the right-center field gap. Junior Andrew Dwoskin drew a walk, and junior Dylan Reid and senior David Madson were hit by back-to-back pitches to give the Bears a 1-0 lead.
Blackburn turned a leadoff double in the top of the fifth into a run to tie the game at 1-1. In the bottom of the inning, freshman Max Golembo and sophomore Andrew Goldstick reached on back-to-back one-out walks. Junior Kyle Billig connected on an RBI double to the gap in left-center field to score Golembo as the Bears regained a 2-1 lead. Blackburn answered with a run in the top of the sixth after a bases-loaded walk, to tie the game again at 2-2.
Washington U. quickly answered with two runs on two hits in the bottom of the sixth. Dwoskin drew a leadoff walk, and senior Matthew Polites followed with a single to right-center. After Reid laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third, Dwoskin scored on a wild pitch that moved Polites to third. Madson then followed with an RBI double to left field to give the Bears a 4-2 lead. An RBI single by Polites extended the lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the seventh.
Washington U. then added three runs in the bottom of the eighth to make it 8-2. Madson was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game. Golembo single to center field, and got caught in a rundown between first and second, but Blackburn's second baseman threw the ball out of play in the rundown, allowing Madson to score and moving Golembo to third. Goldstick singled through the left side to score Golembo. Lowery hit a one-out single through the left side that moved Goldstick to third, and Goldstick scored on a double steal to push the Bears' lead to six runs. Blackburn scored a pair of unearned runs in the top of the ninth to trim the lead to 8-4, but sophomore Max Zhang struck out Jon Lowry to end the inning and seal the win for the Bears.
Four different players recorded two hits each to lead the Bears offensively in the win. Polites was 2-for-2 with a run and an RBI, while Goldstick was 2-for-4 with a run, an RBI, a double and a stolen base. Billig (RBI, double, two steals) and Kessinger (two runs, double) both finished 2-for-5 at the plate. Meanwhile, Madson went 1-for-2 with a run, two RBIs and a double.
Senior Ryan Furtick (1-0) picked up the first win of his career, allowing three hits in 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief for the Bears. Freshman starter Chris Sanderson limited Blackburn to just two hits but issued seven walks in 5 2/3 innings of work, giving up two runs, just one earned. Zhang threw the final inning, allowing two unearned runs on two hits and a walk, while striking out three.
Washington U. is scheduled to travel to Greenville, Ill., for its third of five games on the week Friday, April 19. The Bears take on Greenville College at 6 p.m. Friday, before hosting the Panthers for a doubleheader beginning at Noon Saturday, April 20, at Kelly Field.
Bear Notebook: It marked the fifth-straight game that Washington U. has tallied double-digit hits (12) … The Bears are 13-4 when recording double-digit hits this season … Goldstick has reached base in 22 games in a row … Kessinger extended his hitting streak to seven games … Billig recorded two stolen bases in the game, bringing his Washington University career-record total to 80 ... The run given up by Sanderson in the fifth inning was his first earned run allowed in 14 1/3 innings this season.