Case Western Reserve University first-year outfielder Nick Harms hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th, his second walk-off home run in as many days, to lift the Spartans to an 8-7 win over Washington University (Mo.) at Nobby's Ballpark in Cleveland, Ohio on Sunday, and clinch at least a share of the 2022 University Athletic Association Championship for CWRU.
With the win, the Spartans finish their UAA campaign with a 12-4 record, and will claim the fourth UAA title in the program's history. CWRU would secure the title outright for the second time in program history should Emory lose to Brandeis on Sunday.
CWRU improved to 21-16 overall with the win, while the Bears fell to 11-21 following the setback.
With CWRU trailing 7-6 heading into the bottom of the 10th, junior catcher Jack Anderson worked a six-pitch walk to reach base to start the inning. After a flyout for the first out of the inning, Harms came to bat and sent a 1-0 pitch over the wall in center field for his team-leading ninth home run of the season, eight of which have come in UAA play.
Harms, who finished the game four-for-six with three runs, three RBIs and a double, connected for his first home run of the game just an inning prior. With the Spartans trailing 6-4, and behind in the count 0-2, Harms homered over the wall in right field to lead off the inning, pulling CWRU back within a run. A walk and back-to-back errors with two outs by the Bears' infield allowed pinch runner Logan Andreyko to score, knotting the game at 7-7 and sending the contest into extra innings.
The Bears scored a run in the top of the tenth to put the pressure on the Spartans in the bottom of the inning, but Harms came through with the game-winning blast in the bottom of the 10th for the win. Harms, a St. Louis native, finished the series against his hometown team batting .412 (seven-for-17) over the four games with six runs scored, four home runs, six RBIs, a double and two walks.
Sophomore Tyler Horvath pitched the final four innings for CWRU, allowing just one run on two hits and two walks with six strikeouts. He picked up the win to improve to 3-1 on the year with a 1.64 ERA.
CWRU got off to a quick start on Sunday. After a scoreless top of the first, Anderson led off the bottom of the frame with a triple, and sophomore third baseman Zack Carinci drove him in with a sacrifice fly. However, the Bears scored two in the third and three in the fourth to take a 5-1 lead.
In the fifth, Anderson scored on a sacrifice fly by junior first baseman Nick Talarico to cut the lead to 5-2, but the Bears answered with a run of their own in the top of the sixth. CWRU continued to chip away at the Washington lead, scoring on a solo home run by graduate student shortstop Jacob Lott in the bottom of the sixth, his first of the season, and adding a run in the seventh on a single by Talarico that plated Harms, who doubled to start the frame. CWRU could not even the score though until the bottom of the ninth, when the home run by Harms and two errors sent the game into extra innings.
Anderson finished the day two-for-four at the plate with three runs scored, a triple and a stolen base. A day after starting and going eight innings, graduate student Evan Faxon struck out a batter in relief, moving two strikeouts away from the program's single-season record of 75.
Kyle Coates allowed five runs, four earned, in three and two-thirds innings of relief, suffering the loss to fall to 1-4 on the season.
The Spartans are scheduled to be back in action on Wednesday, May 4 at John Carroll University.