St. Louis, Mo., April 21, 2012 – The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team was unable to match the offensive performance of the University of Chicago as the Maroons swept a doubleheader against WU on Saturday afternoon at Kelly Field. Chicago picked up a 5-2 win in nine innings in game one, before winning game two, 11-1, in seven innings.
Game One – Chicago 5, Washington U. 2 (9 innings)
Washington U., who is ranked No. 19 in the ABCA Collegiate Baseball Poll and No. 24 in the D3Baseball.com Poll, got a pair of hits in the first inning, but was unable to plate any runs. In the bottom of the second, sophomore Oliver Lowry hit a check-swing single to right field with one out. Juniors David Madson and Greg Gleicher drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Sophomore Dylan Reid reached on a fielder's choice to the shortstop that scored Lowry to give the Bears a 1-0 lead. Sophomore Kyle Billig followed with an RBI single to left field that made the score 2-0.
Chicago got on the board in the top of the third. The Maroons got back-to-back one-out singles to put runners on first and second. The following batter struck out swinging on a ball in the dirt, both runners took off and a throw by Madson to third base was out of reach for Reid, allowing the runner to score. Chicago tied the game 2-2 in the top of the fifth. With two outs, Ricky Troncelliti struck out swinging but reached first on a wild pitch to keep the inning alive. After a walk and a fielder's choice that left everyone safe, Troncelliti scored the tying run on a passed ball.
In the bottom of the fifth, Washington U. got the bases loaded with two outs, but a strikeout ended the inning, leaving three stranded. Two innings later, freshman Zack Kessinger and senior Kevin Paule hit back-to-back one-out singles. Lowry hit a ball sharply up the middle of the field that looked like it would give the Bears the win, but the Chicago second baseman made an impressive stop and the Maroons were able to turn the double play as Lowry was called out on a close play at first.
The score remained 2-2 until the top of the ninth, when Chicago got three-straight one-out singles to load the bases. After a pitching change, Chicago's JR Lopez hit into what appeared to be an inning-ending double play, but the umpire called Lopez safe at first, allowing a run to score for the Maroons. Chicago added two more runs in the inning to make it 5-2, and the Bears were unable to answer in the bottom of the inning as the Maroons picked up the win.
Junior Taylor Berman (3-2) took the loss for Washington U., scattering 13 hits while giving up five runs, just two of which were earned, in 8 1/3 innings. Freshman Max Zhang pitched the final 2/3 of an inning for the Bears, allowing two hits. Washington U. was out-hit 15-8 in the game, and each team had two errors.
Game Two – Chicago 11, Washington U. 1 (7 innings)
Chicago struck first in the second game, taking a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly in the top of the first inning. The Bears answered in the bottom of the inning with a run on three hits to tie the score. Billig led-off with a single down the first-base line. After stealing second and advancing to third on a fly-out to right field by Kessinger, Billig scored on an RBI single to left-center field by freshman Chris Lowery. Senior Brandon Rogalski followed with a single up the middle, but he and Lowery were left on base as a pop up and a groundout ended the inning for the Bears.
In the top of the third, Chicago scored two runs on two hits to regain a 3-1 lead. The Maroons added three runs on four hits in the top of the fourth to extend their lead to 6-1. In the top of the seventh inning, Chicago broke the game open with five runs on four hits and an error to earn the 11-1 win.
Chicago recorded 14 hits in the game, including six for extra bases, while the Bears finished with seven hits in game two. The Bears left nine runners on base in the game, while Chicago stranded five. Junior Max Gordon (5-2) was roughed up for six runs on nine hits in four innings of work as he took the loss for Washington U. Senior Michael Fletcher and junior Ryan Furtick combined to throw the final three innings, with Fletcher allowing five runs, four earned, on five hits.
Washington U. (23-10) hosts another doubleheader against Chicago (18-9) beginning at Noon on Sunday at Kelly Field. Prior to the first game, the Bears will recognize their three seniors – Fletcher, Paule, and Rogalski.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. has now lost its last four games … Rogalski's three hits on the day moved him into a tie for second on the WU all-time career hits list (202) … Billig recorded hits in each game, improving his team-best hitting streak to 16 … Lowery went 4-for-4 with an RBI in the two games … Chicago's Jack Cinoman finished the day 7-for-9 with four runs.