Sanford, Fla., March 14, 2013 – The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team moved into first place in the University Athletic Association (UAA) standings with a pair of wins over Emory University and the University of Rochester Thursday at the UAA Championship Tournament. The Bears earned a 6-0 shutout win over Emory Thursday morning, before picking up an 11-4 victory over Rochester in the second game of the day.
Washington U. (9-4, 5-1 UAA) sits in first place in the UAA standings with two games remaining. Case Western Reserve University (5-3, 3-2 UAA) is in second. Case takes on Brandeis University in Thursday's final game. The Bears and Spartans are set to play at 11 a.m. (ET) Friday. Case defeated the Bears 13-3 in seven innings when the two teams played Tuesday.
Washington U. 6, Emory 0
The Bears scored a run in each of the first two innings, both with two outs. Junior Kyle Billig drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the first and sophomore Chris Lowery followed with a single, before sophomore Zack Kessinger singled to right field to make it 1-0. In the bottom of the second, senior Matthew Polites was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and came around to score on a two-out RBI double to left field by sophomore Andrew Goldstick.
The score remained 2-0 until the Bears scored three runs on the bottom of the fifth to open up a 5-0 lead. Goldstick hit a leadoff single. Freshman Max Golembo drew a walk, and Billig followed with a bunt single that loaded the bases. Lowery then delivered a two-RBI single to left center, and senior Kevin Paule had an RBI groundout for Washington U. to make it 5-0. In the top of the seventh, Emory got the bases loaded with two outs on a pair of singles and a walk, but sophomore Dom Quaranta got Daniel Iturrey to foul out to third base and end the inning. Washington U. added another run on a sacrifice fly by Golembo in the bottom of the eighth to secure the 6-0 win.
Quaranta (2-0) threw seven shutout innings in his second-career start to earn the win for the Bears. He scattered five hits, while striking out a career-high six batters. Sophomore Max Zhang closed the game, recording two strikeouts in two hitless innings of work. Goldstick led the Bears offensively, going 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. The Bears recorded 10 hits to the Eagles' five in the game.
Washington U. 11, Rochester 4
Washington U. batted through the order in the top of the first inning to jump out to a 4-0 lead. Goldstick led off the game with a single, and Golembo reached on a walk. After a double steal, Billig reached on an error that scored Goldstick. Lowery followed with an RBI double to right field. Kessinger drew a walk to load the bases, and freshman Kyle Kozak was hit by a pitch to score another run. Lowery scored on a wild pitch to finish the scoring in the inning.
The Bears added two runs in the top of the third to make it 6-0. Senior Alan Komorowski drew a bases-loaded walk, and Kessinger scored on a wild pitch. A fielder's choice by Kessinger scored Golembo in the top of the fourth to extend the lead to 7-0. Rochester got the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth, but a groundout ended the scoring threat and kept the shutout intact for the Bears.
The Yellowjackets got on the board in the bottom of the seventh with three runs on two hits and two walks. The Bears got out of the inning with a strikeout, a fielder's choice and a flyout. Washington U. answered in the top of the eighth with four runs on two hits and four walks, to extend the lead to 11-3. Sophomore Noah Doppelt drew a leadoff walk. After a pitching change for Rochester, Goldstick singled, before Golembo, Billig and Lowery drew three-straight four-pitch walks. Kessinger followed with a sacrifice fly, and sophomore Brandon Deger hit a ground-rule double to drive in the Bears' fourth run of the inning. Rochester took advantage of a pair of errors by the Bears in the bottom of the ninth to score one run, but a double play sealed the win for Washington U.
Freshman Chris Sanderson made his first-career start for the Bears on the mound, throwing four shutout innings, while scattering five hits and striking out two. Junior Matt Kenahan (1-0) picked up the win with two innings of relief, allowing three runs on three hits. Senior Ryan Furtick secured the first save of his career, allowing one unearned run on three hits, while striking out three, in three innings of work. Lowery led the Bears offensively, finishing 3-for-3 with two RBIs, two runs and two walks. Billig (1-for-5, two runs, walk) and Kessinger (1-for-3, run, walk) also recorded two RBIs each, while Goldstick finished 2-for-5 with two runs.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. improved to 5-10 against Emory in the past 10 years, and it was the first time the Bears have won back-to-back games against the Eagles since winning four in a row from 1995-98 … The Bears improved to 17-11 against Rochester in the 25-year history of the UAA Tournament … Washington U. has scored in the first inning in eight games this season, including the past five in a row … The Bears recorded double-digit hits in each of Thursday's game, marking the seventh and eighth times they've done so this season … Washington U. turned five double plays on the day … Kessinger extended his hitting streak to eight games … Billig scored four runs on the day to bring his career total to 121, two shy of entering Washington U.'s all-time career top-10.