St. Louis, Mo., April 24, 2013 – The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team battled back from a 10-0 deficit in the fifth inning, but came up short in a 10-7 loss to No. 10 Webster University Wednesday afternoon at Kelly Field.
The Gorloks scored 10 runs in the first five innings to jump out to a 10-0 lead, but the Bears shut Webster down the remainder of the game, allowing just three hits over the final four innings. Washington U. was limited to one hit through the first four innings, before junior Andrew Dwoskin recorded his second single of the day to lead off the bottom of the fifth. Sophomore Noah Doppelt followed with a double to right-center field, the first extra-base hit of his career. After senior Matthew Polites was hit by a pitch with one out, freshman Max Golembo drew a bases-loaded walk to get the Bears on the scoreboard.
Junior Kyle Billig led off the bottom of the sixth with a triple to right-center field, and scored on a single up the middle by sophomore Zack Kessinger. Dwoskin followed with his third hit of the day, a single down the third-base line. Doppelt drew a walk to load the bases with one out, and Kessinger scored on a fielder's choice by Madson. In the bottom of the seventh, Golembo, sophomore Andrew Goldstick and Billig hit three-straight singles to start the inning. A sacrifice fly by sophomore Chris Lowery and a groundout by Kessinger scored Golembo and Goldstick to make the score 10-5.
The Bears added a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth to trim Webster's lead to 10-7. Doppelt led off with a single and advanced to second on a fielding error by the center fielder. Seniors David Madson and Alan Komorowski drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. A fielder's choice by Golembo scored Doppelt, and Madson scored when the Gorloks' second baseman threw the ball out of play on the throw to first.
Webster threatened to add to its lead in the top of the ninth, but sophomore Max Zhang got Webster's leadoff hitter Cody Stevenson to strikeout looking with the bases loaded to get out of the jam. Lowery reached second on an error by the pitcher to lead off the bottom of the ninth for the Bears, but a pair of groundouts and a strikeout ended the game.
Washington U. finished with 10 hits in the game, the 19th time this season they have recorded double-digit hits. Dwoskin led the Bears offensively with a 3-for-5 day at the plate and a run scored. Billig (2-for-5, run) and Doppelt (2-for-4, run) added two hits each, while Golembo (1-for-4, two RBIs, run) and Kessinger (1-for-5, two RBIs, run) accounted for two RBIs each.
Freshman starter Chris Sanderson (0-2) took the loss for the Bears, surrendering five runs on four hits and a walk in 1 1/3 innings. Seniors Taylor Berman, Max Gordon and Ryan Furtick, along with Zhang, allowed just one earned run and recorded four strikeouts as they combined to throw the final 7 2/3 innings in relief.
Washington U. (20-12) returns to action with a four-game series at University of Chicago Saturday and Sunday, April 27-28. The Bears face the Maroons in a pair of doubleheaders beginning at Noon each day in Chicago.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. and Webster finished 2-2 in the season series … Washington U. has posted double-digit hits in eight of its last 10 games, and is 14-5 when tallying 10-plus hits this season … Webster had eight stolen bases in the first two innings of the game, but zero steals in the final seven … The Gorloks entered the game ranked fifth in NCAA Division III in stolen bases (106) and stolen bases per game (3.42) … Billig's triple in the sixth moved him into a tie for seventh on WUSTL's all-time career list (11), and he is one shy of moving into a tie for third … Billig also moved up to ta tie for fifth on the Bears' career runs scored leaderboard (139), and he is one shy of tying for fourth … Kessinger extended his hitting streak to 10 games with the single in the sixth … Goldstick has now reached base in his last 25 games after recording a single in the seventh.