The Case Western Reserve University baseball team continued a stretch of 10 games in eight days by sweeping a pair of seven-inning games at Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio on Wednesday afternoon, defeating the Terriers 6-3 in extra innings in the first game and claiming a 10-3 victory in the second contest of the day.
The Spartans have now won four-straight games and six of their last seven contests overall to improve to 8-4 on the season. Hiram dropped to 5-11 overall following the loss. CWRU also completed a four-game sweep of their season series against the Terriers.
Game 1 – CWRU 6, Hiram 3 (8 innings)
Case Western Reserve sophomore second baseman Nick Talarico hit the first two home runs of his career, including a game-tying solo shot in the top of the seventh, and first-year third baseman Zack Carinci drove in the eventual game-winning run with a double in the top of the eighth, as the Spartans defeated the Terriers 6-3 in the opening game of the doubleheader.
Talarico finished the game two-for-four with two solo home runs. Senior right fielder Benjamin Stawicki added a solo blast, his first of the season, in a one-for-two performance. Carinci (two-for-four, double, RBI, run) and first-year left fielder Connor Stephenson (two-for-three, stolen base) each had multiple-hit games, while sophomore designated hitter Flynn Lenahan went one-for-three to extend his hitting streak to 16-consecutive games dating back to last season.
After allowing an unearned run in the first inning, junior right-handed pitcher Willem Bouma settled in, holding Hiram scoreless for the remainder of his four-inning outing. He scattered six hits and a walk, while striking out three batters in the no-decision.
Stawicki tied the game with the home run in the top of the third, and Talarico gave the Spartans the lead with his first home run of the game in the top of the fifth. However, Hiram responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth of CWRU right-handed reliver Matthew DuBois, who made his collegiate debut on the mound, to regain the lead, 3-2.
DuBois would settle down and pitch a scoreless bottom of the sixth. Down to their final two outs in the seventh, Talarico hammered a pitch down the leftfield line that cleared the wall and just stayed fair, knotted the score at 2-2.
A scoreless bottom of the seventh by right-handed senior Tony Smodilla sent the game into extra innings. Junior centerfielder Cole Jarrett and Lenahan led the inning off with back-to-back walks, and sophomore catcher Jack Anderson moved them into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Carinci followed with a double to left field, scoring Jarrett and putting the Spartans ahead by a run. The next batter, sophomore first baseman Jonathan Simon, singled through the right side of the infield, allowing both Lenahan and Carinci to score, and giving the Spartans a 6-3 advantage.
Smodilla would work around a leadoff error in the bottom of the eighth, getting a strikeout and a double play to lock down the Spartans' third-straight win in their final at bat. He earned the win to improve to 2-1 on the campaign.
Hiram's Brennan Cain was saddled with the loss in relief, falling to 0-1 on the year.
Game 2 – CWRU 10, Hiram 3
DuBois led the Spartans at the plate in the second game with six RBIs, including four on a grand slam for his first career home run, as CWRU completed the sweep with a 10-3 victory.
DuBois finished the game two-for-three with a run scored, six RBIs, a home run and a sacrifice fly. Adding a three-for-four performance at the plate with a double, a run scored, a stolen base and two RBIs was sophomore Trey Haley, who was the team's designated hitter for the game. Jarrett added a solo home run, his first of the season, while Carinci, sophomore shortstop Owen Levinson and Stawicki each had a pair of hits in the contest.
The Spartans totaled 13 hits in the game and scored in six of the seven innings.
CWRU jumped out to an early lead, as Jarrett led the game off with a walk, stole second, and scored on a two-out RBI single from Carinci. The Spartans broke the game open with a five-run third inning, with Haley driving in the first run of the frame with an RBI single with the bases loaded, and then DuBois following with a grand slam.
Lenahan went one-for-three with two walks and two runs scored, extending his hitting streak to 17-straight games.
After Hiram scored a run in the third to cut the lead to 6-1, DuBois drove in another run in the fourth with a sacrifice fly, and Talarico added a run in the fifth with a sacrifice fly of his own. Hiram scored a pair in the fifth, but another RBI by DuBois, this time of a sixth-inning single, made it a 9-3 Spartan lead, and Jarrett capped off the team's scoring with a solo home run in the seventh.
Sophomore Sankalp Doshi made his first start of the season and pitched a pair of scoreless innings, striking out four and allowing a pair of hits. He picked up the victory in the staff effort from the Spartans' pitchers, improving to 1-0 on the year. First-year Patrick O'Connor added two innings of relief, allowing a run on three hits with two strikeouts.
First-year Michael Shinohara closed out the game with 2.1 innings of scoreless relief, striking out a pair of batters and earning the first save of his career after entering the contest with the potential game-tying run in the on deck circle in the fifth inning.
Hiram starter John Lusnek suffered the loss to fall to 0-3 on the season.
The Spartans will be back in action this weekend with four games scheduled against Wittenberg University. The Spartans will play a doubleheader against the Tigers in Springfield, Ohio on Friday, April 2 starting at noon, before the Tigers make the return trip to Nobby's Ballpark in Cleveland, Ohio for another noon doubleheader.