CLEVELAND – Senior left-hander Jarrett Gish (Jupiter, Fla./Suncoast) tossed yet another gem in game one, while fellow senior "southpaw" Jamie Hora (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg) set the program record for career wins as the Case Western Reserve University baseball team swept visiting DePauw University (Ind.) in the opening two games of a four-game weekend series on Saturday afternoon at Nobby's Ballpark. The Spartans won game one in walk-off fashion, 2-1, and then claimed game two, 8-5.
The Spartans (20-9) reach at least 20 wins for the fourth-straight season with their 11th victory in the last 14 contests. The Tigers (14-15) slip below the .500 mark heading into games three and four of the series tomorrow afternoon at 12:00 p.m.
Gish improved to 5-0 with his fourth complete game of the season and seventh career. In nine innings, the reigning University Athletic Association Pitcher of the Week allowed just one earned run on four hits and three walks with a season-high nine strikeouts. In eight outings this season, Gish has a miniscule 1.78 earned run average in 60.2 innings of work.
Hora (4-1) threw the first seven innings in game two for his 22nd career win. Now 22-6 in a Spartan uniform, Hora surpasses the previous mark of 21 set by Lance Sparks from 1992-95.
The opener was an absolute pitcher's duel between Gish and DePauw right-hander Michael Chiaro. By the end of the sixth inning, the game was scoreless with only four combined hits between the two. In the seventh, however, the Tigers picked up a leadoff double by Robbie Stein. The following two batters successfully bunted on the first pitch, and Stein came home via the "suicide squeeze" by Matt Dorsett.
Several bids for infield hits by the Spartans were foiled throughout the game by fine picks at first base by DePauw's Jason Cohen, but a bases-loaded threat in the eighth set up by a one-out double from sophomore leftfielder Kerrigan Cain (Hartville, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) resulted in the tying run when sophomore first baseman Andrew Gronski (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) drew a walk.
After Gish retired the Tigers in order in the ninth with the final of his 116 pitches, the Spartans utilized more patience at the plate to score the winning run. Senior designated hitter Brett Ossola (Potomac, Md./Bullis School) and junior third baseman Andrew Frey (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor) each walked, while Cain reached via an infield single. With the bases loaded and two outs, senior centerfielder William Meador (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) was hit by a pitch to force home freshman pinch runner Marques Winick (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North).
Chiaro was left with a no decision for the Tigers despite surrendering just one earned run on three hits in 7.1 innings. Pete Stuart (1-1) was saddled with the loss in relief.
Offensively for the Spartans, Cain was 3-for-4 with a double, while Meador was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks.
In game two, both sides went scoreless in the first before DePauw took advantage of a fielding error to move ahead 1-0 in the second as JB McCallum recorded an RBI groundout. The Spartans responded in the bottom of the inning when Frey lined a two-run single to right center to plate senior second baseman Paul Pakan (Tallmadge, Ohio/Tallmadge) and Ossola, who each reached via singles.
Pakan then made the score 3-1 in the following inning with an opposite-field triple that plated Meador. The fifth and sixth innings saw each team score single runs - the final of which made the score 5-3 Spartans as junior rightfielder Jordan Dague (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton) just missed a homer on an RBI double.
The Spartans scored again in the seventh thanks to a Pakan RBI double then added two insurance scores in the eighth on a throwing error and a Gronski RBI single.
DePauw threatened in the ninth with the bases loaded and no outs, but junior left-hander Ray Kelly (Rochester, N.Y./Aquinas Institute) came out of the bullpen and recorded the final two outs for his first save of the spring.
For the game, Pakan finished a homer shy of the cycle in a 3-for-5 performance. Frey was 3-for-4 with two RBI, and Cain was 2-for-4 with two stolen bases.
Jack Peck (2-4) threw the first five innings for DePauw in a losing effort.
In his seven innings, Hora allowed two earned runs and fanned four.