Greencastle, Ind., April 26, 2012 – The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team scored seven runs on 10 hits, and played outstanding defense to hold No. 14/15 DePauw University scoreless in the final four innings as the Bears earned a 7-6 win over the Tigers on Thursday afternoon.
After DePauw (30-8) took a 6-5 lead over the Bears in the bottom of the fifth inning, Washington U. answered with two runs in the top of the sixth to regain the lead. Senior Brandon Rogalski hit his second single of the game to lead off the inning, but was out on a fielder's choice by freshman Zack Kessinger. After senior Kevin Paule drew a walk, junior David Madson hit an RBI double to the gap in right-center field and sophomore Dylan Reid followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to put Washington U. ahead, 7-6.
In the bottom of the sixth, DePauw, who is ranked No. 14 in the ABCA Collegiate Baseball Poll and No. 15 in the D3Baseball.com Poll, got the bases loaded with one out, but the Bears turned their third double play of the game to get out of the inning without surrendering any runs. The Tigers looked like they were threatening to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh when Zach Starr hit a one-out triple to deep right-center field, but he was thrown out at home by freshman Andrew Goldstick on a fielder's choice before a foul fly-out to left field got the Bears out of the inning.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, DePauw's Robbie Stein hit a double to the gap in left-center field with one out, but senior Michael Fletcher picked Stein off at second on a throw to Goldstick for the second out of the inning. A groundout to second base sealed the win for the Bears.
Washington U. took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on an RBI single by Rogalski after back-to-back singles by Goldstick and freshman Chris Lowery. DePauw tied the game in the bottom of the second, before taking the lead (4-1) with three runs on four hits in the bottom of the third. The Bears cut the lead to 4-3 in the top of the fourth when Lowery singled to left field and Kessinger doubled to the right-field wall. Lowery then scored on a passed ball, and a sacrifice fly to center field by Paule scored Kessinger.
The Bears took the lead with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth. Freshman Noah Doppelt reached on a one-out bloop single that fell between the first- and second-basemen in shallow right field, and an RBI double to the wall in right-center field by sophomore Kyle Billig scored Doppelt. Billig then stole third and scored when the throw on the play went into left field, putting the Bears on top, 5-4, with two outs. DePauw answered with two runs on three hits in the bottom of the inning to regain the lead, 6-5.
Sophomore Max Gordon (6-2) earned the win for the Bears, scattering five hits and allowing two runs in 4 1/3 innings of relief. He recorded two strikeouts, while walking three batters. Fletcher picked up his first-career save, giving up just one hit in 1 2/3 innings. Sophomore Matt Kenahan started the game for Washington U., allowing four runs on eight hits in three innings of work. Offensively, Lowery finished 3-for-4 with a run scored, and Rogalski went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Five other Bears recorded hits in the game.
Washington U. (25-12) travels to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for two games on Sunday, April 29. The Bears take on Coe College at 9:30 a.m., followed by a game against Grinnell College at 12:30 p.m.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. improved to 5-1 against ranked teams this season … DePauw won all three games in the season-opening series between the two teams in St. Louis on Feb. 25-26 … It was the first road win of the season for the Bears (1-2) … Washington U. turned four double plays, bringing their season total to 38, which is five shy of the WU single-season record … It was the 22nd game this season that the Bears have recorded double-digit hits, but just the second time in the last eight games … Billig has now hit safely in 20-consecutive games … Rogalski's two hits increased his school-record career total to 208 … Billig's steal in the fifth inning gave him 32 this season (32-of-33), which is two shy of tying his own single-season school record.