Auburndale, Fla., March 17, 2016 – Senior Kyle Kozak and juniorAustin Darmawan recorded four hits, four RBIs and three runs scored each to lead the No. 22-ranked Washington University in St. Louis baseball team to a 19-9 win over Wheaton College (Mass.) Thursday afternoon at the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex.
WashU ended its three-game losing streak and improved to 13-7 with the win, while Wheaton had its four-game win streak snapped to fall to 5-2 overall. The Bears finish their two-week trip to Florida by taking on No. 7 Southern Maine University at 12:30 p.m. (ET) Friday.
Darmawan led off the game with a single down the left-field line, and came around to score on a one-out double to center by junior Christian Santos to give the Bears a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. The Lyons turned a leadoff single into the tying run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first.
In the top of the second, junior Tate Maider was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and freshman Wright Lindgren followed with his fourth double of the season, and third in three days, to put two runners in scoring position with no outs. Kozak then lined a two-RBI single to center field to give WashU a 3-1 advantage. Darmawan hit a one-out single and seniorMax Golembo drew a walk to load the bases before Santos was hit by a pitch to make it 4-1. Sophomore Conor O'Hara followed with an RBI single, and Golembo scored on a fielder's choice by junior Ben Browdy to extend the lead to 6-1 after an inning and a half.
The Lyons got an unearned run in the bottom of the second, but left the bases loaded to end the scoring threat. WashU added a pair of runs in the top of the fourth on a two-run homer by O'Hara, but Wheaton answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning to make it 8-4. The Bears got three unearned runs in the top of the fifth to extend the lead to 11-4. In the bottom of the sixth, Wheaton got back-to-back doubles and a sacrifice fly to trim the lead to 11-7, and brought the tying run to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. Sophomore Alex Truss entered the game and got a strikeout, before tagging a Wheaton baserunner out at home to end the inning.
Darmawan hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh, and the Bears added two more runs in the inning on RBIs by Browdy and Maider to extend the lead to 15-7. Wheaton got two runs back in the bottom of the seventh, but WashU scored three more runs in the top of the ninth to make it a 10-run game.
WashU equaled its season-high with 17 hits, while Wheaton finished with nine. The Bears had a season-high seven extra-base hits in the game. Darmawan and Kozak led the Bears with four hits and four RBIs each. Santos and O'Hara added two hits and three RBIs apiece, while Lindgren also finished with two hits, both doubles.
Junior Matt Clohisy (1-0) earned the win on the mound for WashU, allowing three runs on three hits in two innings of relief. Truss picked up the first save of his career after allowing two unearned runs on two hits in 3.2 innings. Junior Bill Heisler made the start, allowing four runs, one unearned, on four hits in 3.1 innings of work.
Bear Notebook: WashU scored in the first inning for the 13th time this season … Golembo had two runs scored, bringing his career total to 134 and moving into a tie for eighth with John Tanner (1990-93) on WashU's all-time career leaderboard … It was Darmawan's 30th multi-hit game of his career, and Kozak's 20th … The four hits and four RBIs were both career-highs for Kozak … Darmawan's four RBIs was also a career-best … The homeruns for Darmawan and O'Hara were the first in each of their careers … Golembo extended his hitting streak to 13 games.