St. Louis, Mo., April 7, 2012 – The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team picked up a 7-2 win in the first game of a doubleheader against Hendrix College, but the Warriors took advantage of seven errors by the Bears to earn a 5-2 win in the second game on Saturday at Kelly Field.
Game One (7 innings) – Washington U. 7, Hendrix 2
Washington U. scored three runs on four hits, all with two outs, to take a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Senior Brandon Rogalski and junior Andrew Dwoskin got back-to-back singles, before freshman Chris Lowery singled just out of reach of the third baseman to score Rogalski. Freshman Zack Kessinger then lined a hit to right field that got past the sliding right fielder, to score both Dwoskin and Lowery as Kessinger slid into third with a triple.
Hendrix had the bases loaded in each of the first two innings, but junior pitcher Max Gordon got a fielder's choice to end the first inning and struck out Kyle Raskin on a full count to end the second. In the bottom of the second, sophomore Oliver Lowry singled down the left-field line to lead-off the inning for the Bears. Freshman Noah Doppelt reached on a fielder's choice and Lowry was safe at second on the play when the shortstop dropped the ball. Sophomore Kyle Billig followed with a single to left-center field that rolled under the center fielder's glove, allowing Lowry and Doppelt to score and moving Billig to second. After a sacrifice bunt by junior Stephen Bonser, Billig scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Rogalski to make the score 6-0.
The Warriors ended the shutout in the top of the third, scoring a run on two hits to make the score 6-1. Washington U. got the run back in the bottom of the fifth when Lowery hit a one-out single and moved to third on a balk and a passed ball. Kessinger then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Lowery and give the Bears a 7-1 lead. In the bottom of the seventh, Hendrix made it 7-2 with a one-out RBI single, but left the bases loaded as Gordon got a line out and a fly out to end the game.
Gordon (5-1) scattered seven hits and recorded three strikeouts to earn the win in his first complete game of the season. Bonser and Lowery both went 2-for-3 at the plate for the Bears, while Kessinger finished 1-for-2 with three RBIs.
Game Two – Hendrix 5, Washington U. 2
Hendrix made the most of seven errors by Washington U. to score four unearned runs and take a 4-0 lead after seven innings. Offensively, Washington U. managed just three hits, all with two outs, through the first four innings and was held scoreless until the bottom of the eighth.
In that inning, Billig hit a lead-off triple to the gap in left-center field. Lowry, who had entered the game in the top of the inning, hit an RBI double down the right-field line to end the shutout. Lowry was then picked off at second base, just before Rogalski smashed a solo homerun over the fence in left-center field to make the score 4-2. The Bears were unable to cut further into the lead, and in the top of the ninth Hendrix tacked on a run on two hits for the 5-2 win.
Junior Matt Tracy (2-1) took the loss for the Bears despite not allowing an earned run in seven innings of work. Tracy scattered eight hits and struck out one in the game. Rogalski pitched the final two innings, giving up one run on four hits, while recording one strikeout. He also went 3-for-4 at the plate with the solo homerun, while Billig (2-for-4) also recorded multiple hits for Washington U. in the game.
Washington U. (23-7) returns to action on Tuesday, April 17, against Webster University in Sauget, Ill. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. at GCS Ballpark.
Bear Notebook: The loss in game two snapped an 11-game winning streak, and an 18-game home winning streak for the Bears … Billig (13 games) and Rogalski (12 games) extended their hitting streaks with hits in both games… With three hits in game two, Rogalski recorded his 20th multiple-hit game of the season, and now stands just seven hits shy of becoming the all-time career hits leader at Washington U.