St. Louis, Mo., Apr. 2, 2017 – The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team overcame a four run deficit with six runs in the seventh inning to finish off a sweep of No. 10 Emory University with a 7-5 victory Sunday afternoon in the University Athletic Association (UAA) series concluding fourth game at Kelly Field.
WashU improved to 16-5 on the year, including a 4-0 mark in UAA play while Emory fell in its sixth straight game, dropping to 19-11 and 2-6 in the UAA. The Eagles totaled 11 hits compared to WashU's eight but the Bears timely hitting exploded for six runs in the seventh to eliminate a 5-1 deficit.
The Eagles totaled five hits and scored four runs in the top of the seventh to break a 1-1 tie. The Bears used four pitchers during the inning before senior Jake Mintz ended the Eagles scoring opportunity with an inning ending strikeout.
The Bears scored all six runs in the seventh with two outs as senior Austin Darmawan knocked in the first run of the inning. He ripped the ball to left field with the bases loaded for a run-scoring single that plated junior Conor O'Hara. With the bases still loaded, junior Auggie Mense worked the count full before a run-scoring walk. Senior Ben Browdy also walked in a run on five pitches.
Senior Christian Santos delivered the game-winning run when he lined the ball into leftfield for two runs and the 6-5 WashU lead. The Bears added another run on a fielding error by Emory's shortstop off the bat of freshman John Brinkman, who led the inning off as WashU sent 11 batters to the plate in the seventh.
Mintz walked the Eagles David Draper on four straight pitches in the eighth but quickly rebounded by inducing two grounders back to the mound and a strikeout. He pitched a perfect one-two-three ninth inning with two strikeouts and a popup to close out his fourth win of the season, including his second of the series.
The Bears other run came in the sixth inning on a liner by Browdy into right field that scored Darmawan. With the hit, Browdy increased his reaching base streak to 40 straight games, three behind the WashU record set by Max Golembo.
Darmawan finished the game going 2-for-5 with two runs scored and one run knocked in while Mense reached base three times with two walks on a 1-for-2 day at the plate. Browdy and Santos led the squad with two RBIs apiece.
Sophomore Zack Kotin pitched five innings without allowing an earned run. He gave up five hits, one run and two walks compared to four strikeouts. Senior Bill Heisler was also effective in relief as he did not allow a hit or base-runner in two-thirds of an inning pitched.
WashU will remain at home with a game against Webster University on Wednesday scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. start. Be sure to stay up to date on all your Bears scores and awards by following @WashUBears on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.