Sanford, Fla., March 15, 2013 – The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team was limited to five hits in the final six innings as the Bears suffered a 6-2 loss to Case Western Reserve University in the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship Tournament Friday morning.
Washington U. (9-5, 5-2 UAA) and Case Western Reserve (7-3, 5-2 UAA) are now tied for first in the UAA standings with one game remaining for each team. The Spartans face Emory University at 11 a.m. Saturday in their final game, while the Bears take on the University of Rochester at 10 a.m. Sunday to close the tournament. Washington U. would clinch the outright UAA title with a win over Rochester and a Case loss to Emory. The Bears and Spartans would finish as co-UAA champions if both win or both lose their final games.
Sophomore Andrew Goldstick led off the game with a double to right field, and moved to third on a one-out single by junior Kyle Billig. A sacrifice fly by sophomore Chris Lowery gave the Bears a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. It was Lowery's 10th RBI of the UAA Tournament. In the top of the third, Washington U. strung together three-straight two-out singles by Billig, Lowery and sophomore Zack Kessinger to make it a 2-0 lead for the Bears.
Case Western Reserve answered in the bottom of the third, scoring two runs on a two-out single and an error to tie the score at 2-2. The Spartans took the lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth, before making it 4-2 with a two-out single in the bottom of the fifth. Case added two more runs on a one-out single in the bottom of the sixth to extend the lead to 6-2.
The Bears, who had five hits in the first three innings, finished with 10 hits in the game, while Case had six. The Spartans took advantage of 10 walks issued by the Washington U. pitching staff, scoring five of their six runs by batters who reached base on walks.
Senior Max Gordon (1-1) took the loss for the Bears, allowing four runs, three earned, on three hits and six walks in four innings of work. Junior Brendan Rooney, sophomore Max Zhang and senior Ryan Furtick combined to throw the final four innings, allowing two runs on three hits and four walks. Zhang also had three strikeouts. Goldstick led the Bears offensively, finishing 3-for-4 with two doubles and a run scored. Billig (2-for-4, run) and Kessinger (2-for-4, RBI) also had multiple hits for Washingotn U.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. is 33-16 against Case Western Reserve in the last 25 seasons … It was the ninth time this season the Bears have scored in the first inning, including the past six-straight games … Washington U. recorded double-digit hits for the ninth time this season … Kessinger has had at least one hit in each of the last nine games … Billig now has 122 career runs scored, one shy of ninth on Washington U.'s all-time career leaderboard.