St. Louis, Mo., April 16, 2011 – The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team stole a season-high 15 bases, breaking the single-season school record in the process, as it picked up a 14-4 victory over Principia College on Saturday afternoon in St. Louis, Mo.
Saturday's game was held in conjunction with a Washington University baseball alumni reunion and stadium dedication ceremony. More than 100 former WUSTL baseball players spanning the last seven decades returned to the Danforth Campus to participate in the festivities.
Prior to the seventh inning, Washington University Director of Athletics John Schael unveiled a commemorative plaque, naming the WU baseball stadium Irv Utz Stadium to honor Washington University Sports Hall of Famer and former baseball coach Irv Utz. Utz was the Bears' head coach for 11 seasons posting an overall record of 162-66 (.711) during that span.
On the field, Washington University overcame a slow start by posting 10 runs over the final three innings to pick-up the 10-run win. The fifth inning was the start of the Bears' scoring barrage.
Senior Travis May doubled down the right field line to score junior Brandon Rogalski from second to break a 4-4 tie. Freshman designated hitter Andrew Dwoskin broke the game open later in that frame, sending a towering three-run home run to left-center field to bring the score to 8-4. The long ball for Dwoskin was his second of the year and his second homer in as many games.
The Bears used two more big base hits in the sixth to hang four more runs on the board. Rogalski tripled to right field, scoring senior Miguel Davis and freshman Kyle Billig. May scored for the third time in the game when senior catcher Joe Noon knocked his first triple of the year to deep right-center field, putting the Bears up by eight.
Sophomore Taylor Berman picked up the complete-game victory for the Bears on the mound, improving to 4-1 on the year. Berman gave up three runs on four hits in the first inning, but settled in from that point forward, allowing just five more hits and one run over the next six innings. He struck out five batters over seven innings without issuing a walk.
Billig finished the game just 1-for-3 at the plate, but he walked twice and ended up swiping five bases to bring his season tally to 28, just one shy of tying the WUSTL single-season record. Rogalski was 2-for-3, scoring four runs and May was 2-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored.
The Bears have now stolen 106 bases on the year, easily surpassing the old single-season mark of 93 with 10 games remaining on the schedule.
Washington University (23-13) returns to action on Monday, April 18, for a home doubleheader against Webster University with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.
Bear Notebook: Davis hit a two-RBI double to score two runs and end the game in the bottom of the seventh inning … Rogalski stole three bases on Saturday while May and senior Matt Bayer finished with two apiece … Berman has thrown four complete games this season and has a 3.70 earned run average.