St. Louis, Mo., March, 26, 2019 – The newly minted No. 25-ranked Washington University in St. Louis baseball team notched its fifth shutout of the year during an 11-0 win over Iowa Wesleyan University at Kelly Field Tuesday evening.
The Bears improved to 13-3-1 on the year while the Tigers fell to 3-12-1. WashU scored double digit runs for the fourth time this season and improved to 3-1 in those contests. The Red & Green's 17 hits were the second most registered on the year.
Sophomore pitcher Tim Tague blanked the Tigers through six innings of work, relinquishing five hits while striking out seven batters. He extinguished Iowa Wesleyan's scoring opportunity in the second inning with a pair of runners in scoring position and no one out by getting back-to-back swinging strikeouts prior to a pop up to preserve a 0-0 score.
WashU capitalized on the solid effort in the third inning scoring a pair of runs after freshman shortstop Caleb Durbin led the inning off with a double before senior second baseman Evan Nagel earned a walk. The pair of base runners were cashed in on a sacrifice fly by freshman right fielder Jackson Gray before a double by junior center fielder John Ostrander put the Bears ahead 2-0.
Freshman catcher Zac Styka, sophomore third baseman Collin Kahal and Durbin tacked on three more runs to the tally in the fourth. Durbin knocked in Styka with a single through the left side before junior first baseman John Brinkman's fielder's choice pushed across Kahal. Brinkman also initiated a run down from first base to second which allowed Durbin to score before the inning's final out was registered.
Combining efforts with Tague for the Bears fifth shutout which ranks second in Division III this season were sophomores Mitchell Black and Jack Besser. Black tossed two scoreless frames and struck out three batters while Besser recorded the final three outs including two swinging strikeouts.
Durbin, Brinkman and Ostrander finished the game with three hits apiece to lead the Bears. Brinkman knocked in a game-high three runs, while Durbin scored a game-high three runs. Nagel swiped three bags on the day while going 2-for-3 at the plate with a walk. Ostrander recorded two doubles.
WashU added two runs in the seventh inning with a run scoring single by Brinkman before a well placed double by Ostrander increased the Bears lead to 7-0.
The final four runs of the game were registered in the eighth. Freshman pinch hitter Bo Anderson, Brinkman and sophomore right fielder Henry Singer drove in runs while the fourth run was scored by Durbin after freshman pinch runner Tim Van Kirk swiped second.
The Bears begin University Athletic Association (UAA) play this weekend with a four-game series in Cleveland against Case Western Reserve University beginning Friday, March 29. Be sure to stay up to date on all your Bears scores and awards by following @WashUBears on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.