CLEVELAND, Ohio – Junior left-hander Jarrett Gish (Jupiter, Fla./Suncoast) threw six innings of one-run baseball as Case Western Reserve University defeated cross-town rival Baldwin-Wallace College, 6-5, on Wednesday evening at Nobby's Ballpark. The victory gave the Spartans a season sweep of the Yellow Jackets.
Case improves to 22-12-1 overall heading into its annual game at Progressive Field tomorrow afternoon versus Muskingum University at 3:00 p.m. With the loss, B-W falls to 24-8.
Gish (6-1) allowed just one earned run on eight hits while striking out two and not allowing a walk.
The Spartans batted around and jumped out to quick 5-0 lead in the first inning. Senior second baseman Bobby Marko (Lyndhurst, Ohio/Brush) walked and came around to score on a grounder, and junior first baseman Brett Ossola (Potomac, Md./Bullis School) ripped a single into left, plating a pair. Two bases-loaded walks later in the inning brought home Ossola and freshman utility player Andrew Gronski (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson), making the score 5-0.
The Yellow Jackets got on the board in the top of the third with an RBI single courtesy of Jay Yost, but Case added to its lead in the bottom of the fifth when senior catcher Peter Zak (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) drove a solo homerun to left – his third of the season.
Freshman pitcher Edward Abramson (Maitland, Fla./Winter Park) relieved Gish to begin the seventh, and the Yellow Jackets took advantage of an error to score two unearned runs on a single by Yost. With two out, junior lefty Jamie Hora (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg) then came out of the bullpen and induced a pop-out to end a bases-loaded threat.
However, the Yellow Jackets took advantage of a walk and an error to score twice more in the eighth, bringing the score to 6-5.
In the ninth, B-W looked to tie the score after a leadoff double and a single up the middle, but junior centerfielder Paul Pakan (Tallmadge, Ohio/Tallmadge) fired a ball in from the outfield to freshman catcher Robert Winemiller (Twinsburg, Ohio/University School), who applied the tag to B-W's Zach Ferster, preventing the tying run from scoring.
Sophomore reliever Josh Suvak (Independence, Ohio/Independence) recorded the final three outs on the mound for his second save of the season.
Starter Brent Edmonds lasted only a third of an inning in the loss for B-W.
Following tomorrow's game at the home of the Cleveland Indians, the Spartans head to Greencastle, Indiana for a crucial four-game regional series with No. 11 nationally-ranked DePauw University on Saturday and Sunday, April 21-22.