St. Louis, Mo., February 25, 2012 – The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team tied the game 2-2 in the fourth inning, but a two-run eighth inning for DePauw University was enough to give the Tigers a 4-2 win over the Bears in the season opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon at Kelly Field.
DePauw got on the board first with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the second inning. Jason Cohen reached on an error to start the inning, and came around to score on a one-out triple by Robbie Stein. Sam Swafford struck out swinging for the third out of the inning, but the ball got past the Washington U. catcher, allowing Stein to score from third and put DePauw up 2-0.
Washington U. answered in the bottom of the fourth, tying the score at 2-2. Freshman Andrew Goldstick led off the inning with a single, but was put out at second on a fielder's choice by sophomore Kyle Billig. Senior Brandon Rogalski hit a two-out single and advanced to second on the throw as Billig moved to third. Freshman Zack Kessinger followed with a two-out, two-RBI single to center field on a 0-2 count to even the score.
The score remained 2-2 until the top of the eighth when DePauw strung together three-straight one-out singles to load the bases. Swafford drew a walk to give DePauw a 3-2 lead, and a sacrifice fly by Alex Berlyn made it 4-2 before the Bears were able to get out of the inning. Billig reached on a two-out single to center field in the bottom of the eighth for Washington U., but DePauw got a ground out to end the inning. The Bears were unable to get a runner on base in the bottom of the ninth as they suffered the 4-2 loss.
Washington U. finished with six hits in the game, including two each by Rogalski and Kessinger, but gave up two unearned runs on six errors. DePauw tallied eight hits and one error in the game. Stein went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI to lead the Tigers in the win.
Junior Stephen Bonser recorded five strikeouts and allowed just one hit in three innings as the starting pitcher for Washington U. Junior Ryan Furtick (0-1) took the loss for the Bears, allowing two runs on three hits in one-third of an inning. Joe Wojda earned the win for DePauw, pitching a scoreless one-hit eighth inning for the Tigers. Hobs Donovan picked up the save for the Tigers.
Washington U. (0-1) returns to action with a doubleheader against DePauw (1-0) beginning at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 26, at Kelly Field.