Sauget, Ill., April 28, 2014 – Freshmen Nick Gollin and Scott Nelson combined to allow just one earned run on five hits and sophomore Kyle Kozak hit a game-winning three-RBI double as the Washington University in St. Louis baseball team earned a 4-2 win against No. 2 Webster University Monday morning at GCS Ballpark.
Washington U. improved to 24-15 with the win, while Webster dropped to 30-5, snapping a 24-game winning streak against NCAA Division III opponents for the Gorloks. It was the eighth straight win for Washington U., who has won 17 of its last 20 games. The Bears are scheduled to host their final home games of the season with a doubleheader against Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology beginning at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 30.
Webster got on the scoreboard first with a one-out double in the bottom of the first inning that gave the Gorloks a 1-0 lead. In the top of the third, sophomore Max Golembo reached on a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a balk. After moving to third on a groundout, sophomore Zack Kessinger drove in his team-leading 34th run of the season with an RBI groundout to tie the game at 1-1.
In the bottom of the fourth, Webster regained the lead on a two-out error by the Bears. With runners on first and second, shortstop Matt Wollnik singled to the outfield and Max Morohashi rounded third before sliding down on the turf near Webster's third-base coach. The Bears got the ball into the infield quickly and looked like they would throw Morohashi out trying to get back to third, but the throw went wide of junior Andrew Goldstick and allowed the go-ahead run to score for Webster.
The Bears were limited to three hits through the first six innings as the score remained 2-1 in favor of the Gorloks. In the top of the seventh, senior Andrew Dwoskin led off with a walk after falling behind 1-2 in the count. Junior Brandon Deger then fell behind 0-2 in his at-bat, but fouled off four pitches before drawing a walk on a 10-pitch at-bat to put two runners on with no outs. After a pitching change by the Gorloks, senior Kyle Billig drove the first pitch he saw for a single through the hole at shortstop to load the bases. Kozak then lined a sharply hit double down the left-field line on a 1-2 count to clear the bases and give Washington U. a 4-2 lead in the game.
After giving up a bunt single in the bottom of the fifth, Gollin retired the next nine batters he faced before allowing a one-out single in the bottom of the eighth. Gollin got a strikeout of the Gorloks' designated hitter Joe Winckel, but hit back-to-back batters to load the bases. Nelson came on in relief with two outs, and got catcher Ian Foege to fly out to left field to end the inning as Webster left the bases loaded. The Bears went down in order in the top of the ninth, but Nelson sealed the win with back-to-back flyouts and a groundout to Goldstick to end the game.
Gollin improved to 7-1 in his third start of the season, earning his fourth straight victory. He allowed just one earned run on five hits, while striking out five in 7.2 innings of work. Nelson picked up his second save of the season with 1.1 innings of relief. The Bears were limited to six hits in the game offensively, including a 3-for-4 day by freshman CJ Price. Billig was 2-for-4 with a run scored, and Kozak finished 1-for-3 with three RBIs.
Bear Notebook: The Bears improved to 4-3 against ranked teams this season … Golembo reached base safely for the 43rd consecutive game, dating to April 30, 2013 … Billig extended his hitting streak to seven games, recording his 199th career hit, three shy of tying for third on Washington U.'s all-time career leaderboard.