PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Case Western Reserve University baseball team suffered a setback on Sunday as the Spartans were swept by scores of 9-6 and 5-3 versus La Roche College at John Arnold Sr. Memorial Field.
The Spartans drop to 26-16-1 overall heading into the final game of the regular season versus local-rival John Carroll University at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, April 30 at Nobby's Ballpark. The two wins move La Roche to 20-16.
In game one, the Spartans got on the board first when junior first baseman Brett Ossola (Potomac, Md./Bullis School) hit his second homerun of the spring, but La Roche came back with two in the third on an RBI single by Sean Lubin and an RBI double from Brian Tougher.
Case then answered with a four spot in the top of the fourth starting with a two-run double by senior catcher Peter Zak (Brookline, Mass./Brookline). Sophomore second baseman Andrew Frey (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor) drove Zak home with a single then came around to score on a triple by sophomore rightfielder Jordan Dague (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton).
However, La Roche would respond with four runs of their own in the bottom of the inning then tacked on three more in the fifth. Brad Goedeker paced the fourth with an RBI double then added an RBI single in the fifth.
The Spartans were only able to score once more in the sixth on a groundout.
For the game, Ossola was 1-for-1 with a homer, two walks and two runs scored.
Freshman Kevin Johnstone (Placentia, Calif./Valencia) took the loss on the mound, allowing two earned runs in 2.2 innings of relief.
Tougher was 4-for-4 with two RBI for the Redhawks, while Goedeker was 3-for-3. Walt Hadjuk earned the win in relief while Jesse Bauer threw two innings for his sixth save.
In the second game, Case once again got off to a 1-0 lead with a run scoring via an error in the second. But similar to game one, La Roche answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning on a three-run homer from Goedeker.
Case briefly tied the score with two in the fifth on an RBI single by junior centerfielder Paul Pakan (Tallmadge, Ohio/Tallmadge) and an RBI double by senior outfielder Sam Alexander (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams), but La Roche once again came back with two in the sixth on a two-run single by Tougher.
At the plate, both Pakan and Alexander were 3-for-4 with an RBI.
On the mound, senior lefty A.J. Boshinski (Alpharetta, Ga./St. Pius X) was saddled with the loss in 1.2 innings of relief.
Goedeker led La Roche again with two hits and three RBI. Pitcher James Connelly picked up the win, not surrendering an earned run in six innings, while Bauer picked up another save.