St. Louis, March 4, 2012 – The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team extended its win streak to five games with a sweep of No. 16 Buena Vista University and No. 13 College of St. Scholastica on Sunday at Kelly Field. The Bears earned a 14-10 win over the Beavers in a game that was continued from Saturday evening, before holding on for a 7-5 win over St. Scholastica.
Washington U. 14, #16 Buena Vista 10
In a game that was postponed after four innings of play on Saturday due to darkness with Buena Vista leading 9-8, the Bears tied it at 9-9 following a run in the sixth after senior Brandon Rogalski and freshman Zack Kessinger led off the inning with back-to-back hits. Rogalski came around to score after sophomore Andrew Dwoskin grounded into the Bears' third double play of the game.
Washington U. broke the 9-9 tie with five runs in the bottom of the seventh. Junior Matthew Polites drove in the first run with an RBI double to left center, and then scored following a single to shallow right by freshman Andrew Goldstick. Sophomore Dylan Reid, Kessinger and Dwoskin added RBIs to push the lead to 14-9, before the Beavers scored an unearned run in the top of the eighth to make the final score 14-10.
Junior Matt Tracy (1-0) took the ball in the top of the fifth and tossed five scoreless innings allowing one hit while striking out five. He got a key double play in the seventh after the leadoff runner reached on an error. Kessinger (3-for-5, two RBIs) and Polites (3-for-3, three RBIs) each had three hits apiece for Washington U., who totaled 16 in the win.
Washington U. 7, #13 St. Scholastica 5
St. Scholastica (1-5) struck first with a run in the first on an RBI single by Kyle Jensen, but Washington U. responded with two unearned runs in the second inning on three singles. Tied at 2-2 in the third, Dwoskin put the Bears back in front with a two-out RBI single to left to make it 3-2.
Washington U. added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth after RBIs by freshman Noah Doppelt and Goldstick. Sophomore Matt Kenahan (1-0) made it through the first five innings allowing just four hits and one earned run to get the win for the Bears. Kessinger added an RBI in the fifth to make it 6-2.
In the top of the sixth, St. Scholastica scored on a sacrifice fly and a throwing error by Goldstick to cut the lead to 6-4. The Bears answered in the bottom of the inning when Goldstick singled through the left side of the infield and stole second, before coming around to score on a double to center field by sophomore Kyle Billig. St. Scholastica got its lead-off batter on with a walk in the top of the seventh. David Vogelgesang hit a ball deep down the left-field line that looked like it would drop for an extra-base hit, but Polites made a diving catch on the warning track to get the out. The Saints were able to plate a run on a two-out single, cutting the lead to 7-5 and putting runners at the corners. Tyler Henderson hit a ball well to left-center field, but Polites made another diving grab to end the inning.
After St. Scholastica opened the eighth inning with a single between the shortstop and second base, Polites made a sliding catch in left-center field to get the first out of the inning. St. Scholastica put runners on first and second with a walk before Rogalski came in to pitch and got a strikeout and a fly-out to Polites to get out of the inning. Rogalski earned his first save of the season by pitching 1 and 2/3 innings, allowing just one hit while striking out two.
Washington University (5-3) closes out its 10-game home schedule against Fontbonne University on Tuesday, March 6 at 3 p.m., and Westminster College on Wednesday, March 7, at 3 p.m.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. picked up four-straight wins over ranked opponents by sweeping both Buena Vista and St. Scholastica in two games each … In the Bears' four games over the weekend, Goldstick hit .615 (8-for-13), including six RBI and five runs, while Kessinger hit .588 (10-for-17) with five RBI and five runs … Rogalski had one double against St. Scholastica, bringing his career total to 34 and tying him for seventh all-time at Washington U. … Billig moved into fifth on Washington U.'s career stolen bases list with 38, while Rogalski is tied for eighth with 34 … Rogalski also moved into 10th on the all-time career hits list at WU over the weekend with 151 hits.