St. Louis, Mo., April 13, 2019 – No. 10 Washington University in St. Louis baseball settled for a split in its four-game series with University Athletic Association (UAA) foe New York University after dropping a pair of contests Saturday by scores of 8-6 and 4-2 at Kelly Field on Alumni Day.
The Bears fell to 22-5-1 overall including 8-2 in UAA play while the Violets pair of wins improved to 15-9 overall (2-6 UAA). WashU totaled more earned runs than NYU in the pair of games, 8-6, but ultimately fell after five errors proved the difference.
Game 1: NYU 8 – WashU 6
After setting the pace twice in Friday's slate of games with runs in the top of the first inning, the Violets continued the trend Saturday. NYU scored twice in the first and added two more in the second for a 4-0 advantage before WashU's first runner crossed the plate in the third.
Senior second baseman Evan Nagel's run scoring groundout scored sophomore third baseman Collin Kahal. Following a single by junior first baseman John Brinkman, freshman designated hitter Brendan Hall doubled down the left field line which knocked in a pair of runners and cut NYU's lead to 4-3.
WashU evened the score in the fourth when Kahal's single to left field capitalized on a couple of mistakes by the Violets. Freshman right fielder Jackson Gray scored on the single after reaching on an error and moving into scoring position on a balk.
NYU took a 6-4 lead in the fifth inning before WashU once again answered back to even things up. The Bears tallied two runs in the sixth as Gray tripled before scoring on a wild pitch to lead things off. The second run was scored by sophomore left fielder Sean Robinson. He reached on an infield single before stealing second and scoring on a single by Durbin into the right center gap.
The Violets took advantage of two miscues in the field by the Bears in the seventh inning. NYU scored two unearned runs which proved the difference in the Violets 8-6 win.
Freshman pitcher Matt Lopes pitched 2.2 scoreless innings in his second appearance of the series. He struck out four batters to keep the Bears within striking distance. Durbin, Gray and Kahal led the Bears with two hits apiece in game one while Hall knocked in a team-high two runs.
Game 2: NYU 4 – WashU 2
Sophomore pitcher Mitchell Black completed seven strong innings in relief. He held NYU to four hits and no earned runs while striking out four but was saddled with the hard luck loss as the Violets scored two unearned runs in the eighth.
Nagel and junior center fielder John Ostrander both collected two hits apiece in the game and knocked in the Bears runs in the fifth. Ostrander hit a deep line drive to center field with the bases loaded to score freshman designated hitter Zac Styka. One batter later Nagel sent the ball into the left centerfield gap to plate junior catcher Thomas Gardner which knotted the game up at 2-2.
NYU scored two unearned runs in the top of the eighth inning after Black nearly pitched around a leadoff double to maintain the tie.
The Bears will welcome UAA leading Emory to Kelly Field next weekend, April 19-21. The Eagles are 18-12 overall but lead the UAA with a .875 winning percentage in conference games (7-1). Be sure to stay up to date on all your Bears scores and awards by following @WashUBears on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.