St. Louis, Mo., March 5, 2017 — The No. 20-ranked Washington University in St. Louis baseball team split a doubleheader against Luther College falling 9-2 in the first game before coming out on top in game two 7-5 on Sunday evening at Kelly Field in St. Louis after winning the series opener on Saturday.
WashU added a win and a loss to its record and now stands at 4-3 after Sunday's doubleheader while Luther's record is 3-2 after dropping the three game series to the Bears.
Luther 9, #20 WashU 2 – Game One
WashU could not figure out Luther starting pitcher Cody Reimer in game one, as he tossed seven scoreless innings allowing five hits with five strikeouts. Reimer also hit a two-run homerun in the eighth.
Luther scored a pair of runs in the third, and then added a run in the fourth and one in the fifth off sophomore starter Zack Kotin.
Kotin (0-2) took the loss allowing nine hits and five earned runs in five innings pitched. He also struck out eight and walked one.
Sophomore Tyler Diamond had an RBI triple in the bottom of the ninth to break up the shutout. Freshman Brian Schutter added an RBI single in the ninth as WashU was limited to eight hits and left 12 on base.
#20 WashU 7, Luther 5– Game Two
WashU took the lead in the first inning on a double down the left field line by senior Christian Santos that plated sophomore Auggie Mense who reached earlier in the inning on an infield single. The 1-0 score held true until the Bears fumbled a pickoff attempt with runners on the corners that allowed Luther's Joey Sullivan to even the score.
Starting pitcher Scott Nelson allowed his first earned run in the fifth inning after a two out double and single pushed the Norse ahead 2-1. The Bears offense wasted little time to put WashU back ahead as senior Tate Maider doubled to lead the bottom half of the inning off, before Diamond homered.
The Bears offense wasn't done as senior Austin Darmawan followed the homer with a single up the middle before a well executed sacrifice bunt by Mense moved him into scoring distance. Senior Ben Browdy chased the Norse starting pitcher from the game after he delivered with a hard hit ball up the middle which allowed Darmawan to score standing for a 4-2 WashU lead.
The Bears two one run gap was aided by senior Ted Daley's run in the sixth but Luther scored three runs in the seventh inning to even the score at 5-all.
Santos got things back in favor for WashU with his second run-scoring double of the game. After Browdy reached based with a one out single, Santos drilled a pitch into deep left field that bounced to the fence allowing Browdy to score. Two batters later Santos scored on a single by freshman John Brinkman.
WashU's John Howard tossed a one, two, three eighth inning before the game was called due to lack of light after the Bears batted in the eighth. WashU prevailed 7-5 in the contest as Howard was credited with the victory.
Nelson tossed six quality innings allowing six hits, three runs, two earned and two walks while striking out two. Browdy led the Bears with three hits and inched closer to 100 career runs batted in with the 96th of his career. Santos ended the game with two RBI and Diamond collected his first collegiate home run.
WashU closes out a four-game homestand against Fontbonne University on Wednesday, March 8, at 3 p.m. Be sure to stay up to date on all your Bears scores and awards by following @WashUBears on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.