Sanford, Fla., March 17, 2013 – The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team dropped its final game of the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship Tournament 8-4 against the University of Rochester Sunday morning, giving the Bears a share of the UAA title with Case Western Reserve University.
Washington U. (9-6, 5-3 UAA) and Case Western Reserve (7-4, 5-3 UAA) tied for first in the UAA standings to share the conference title. It is the first UAA championship for the Bears since 2005, and just the fourth in school history. Washington U. was also the co-champion in 1995 and 2003.
Rochester scored three runs on five hits and an error in the top of the second inning to grab a 3-0 lead. The Bears got a run back in the bottom of the second when senior Kevin Paule hit a out-out homerun to left field to make it 3-1. It was Paule's first homerun of his career and the first of the season for the Bears.
The Yellowjackets extended their lead to 4-1 in the top of the fifth, scoring on a two-out single down the right-field line. In the bottom of the sixth, freshman Max Golembo drew a one-out walk, and junior Kyle Billig followed with a double to left field. Sophomore Chris Lowery was hit by a pitch to load the bases, before sophomore Zack Kessinger delivered a bases-clearing double to deep right field, bringing the Bears even, 4-4. Kessinger advanced to third on the play, but back-to-back strikeouts ended the inning for Washington U. Rochester answered with a run in the top of the seventh to regain the lead, and added three runs in the ninth to finish with the 8-4 win.
Rochester outhit the Bears 15-4 in the game. Three of Washington U.'s four hits went for extra bases. Senior Stephen Bonser (3-1) took the loss, pitching his fourth complete game of the season for the Bears. He allowed eight runs, including one unearned, without issuing a walk. Bonser also recorded seven strikeouts in the game, bringing his season total to 30 in 37 innings of work.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. is 17-13 against Rochester in the last 25 seasons … The Bears earned an 11-4 win over the Yellowjackets Thursday at the UAA Tournament … Kessinger extended his hitting streak to 10 games … Billig's run scored in the sixth inning moved him into a tie for ninth on Washington U.'s all-time career leaderboard (123) … The double for Billig in the sixth was the 27th of his career, five shy of entering the all-time career top-10 list for Washington U. … It was the 15th complete-game effort for Bonser in his career.