Leesburg, Fla., March 13, 2017 – The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team jumped out to a large lead early on before the College of St. Scholastica mounted a comeback that was thwarted by a four out save from senior Matt Clohisy as the Bears pulled out a 10-8 victory Monday afternoon at Pat Thomas Stadium in Leesburg, Fla.
WashU improved to 6-4 on the season while St. Scholastica dropped to 1-4. The Bears totaled 18 hits while scoring 10 runs for the fifth time. WashU remains unbeaten, 5-0, when it reaches 10 or more runs.
Senior left handed reliever Bill Heisler earned his first victory of the season, pitching three solid innings allowing four hits, one earned run with two strikeouts and no walks issued. Clohisy entered the game in the eighth inning during a 10-8 game with the bases loaded and two outs. He got the Saints three-hole hitter, Brian Minks, to fly out to sophomore Auggie Mense in right center. Clohisy finished the game off against the Saints' heart of the order with a perfect three-up, three-down ninth inning.
The Bears offense was led by senior second baseman Ben Browdy's five runs batted in, which increased the Deerfield, Ill.-natives career mark to 102. Senior Christian Santos led the team with four hits in five at-bats.
As the visitor, WashU struck first with a four-run first inning. Senior leadoff hitter Austin Darmawan led the game off with a double to left centerfield and scored one batter later when Browdy singled through the left side advancing Mense to second base after he walked.
Santos reached first with a bunt single before freshman John Brinkman delivered a run scoring single through the right side of the infield. Junior Conor O'Hara hit a sacrifice fly that allowed Browdy to score. Senior Tate Maider provided the final RBI of the inning with a single to right center.
Senior Scott Nelson tossed three shutout innings as the Bears tacked on another run in the second, when Browdy's two-out RBI single scored freshman John Ostrander.
WashU nearly doubled its lead with a four-run fourth inning. Mense provided an RBI single before Browdy clobbered a three-run homer to left field, which pushed the Bears lead to 9-0.
St. Scholastica answered back with five runs in the bottom half of the inning which included a home run and triple. The Saints continued to chip away at the Bears lead with runs in the fifth, seventh and eighth but were unable to get any closer than a two-run deficit.
The lone run given up by Heisler was a solo home run in the seventh inning, but WashU's offense neutralized the blast with a run by Santos in the eighth when Brinkman singled.
WashU will face Centenary (N.J.) University tomorrow at 9 a.m. (E.T.) in Auburndale, Fla. Be sure to stay up to date on all your Bears scores and awards by following @WashUBears on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.