St. Louis, Mo., April 26, 2019 – The No. 13-ranked Washington University in St. Louis baseball team tied a season-high in runs during a 17-0 nonconference victory over Greenville University Friday evening at Kelly Field.
WashU improved to 27-5-1 on the year with the win while dropping Greenville to 20-14 overall. The Bears totaled 18 hits which is the second highest figure for the team on the season. Senior pitcher John Howard earned his ninth consecutive victory in his 10th start of the year.
After news of impending snow in northern Illinois cancelled Saturday, April 28's road doubleheader at Wheaton, the Bears have added a two-game set against Monmouth College at home on Sunday, April 28 beginning at 12 p.m. In addition, WashU has added a doubleheader on Saturday, May 4 at Knox College.
Howard held the Panthers to four hits and only allowed Greenville to advance to second base twice in six innings of work. The St. Louis, Mo.-native also tied a career-high with 10 strikeouts while lowering his season earned run average to 1.15 which is good for 12th in Division III.
After threatening in the first inning, WashU tallied its first run of the contest in the second on a fielder's choice groundout by freshman shortstop Caleb Durbin. The Bears opened the floodgates in the third in the process of scoring seven runs. The first four batters reached base without an out, including a two-run single by freshman designated hitter Brendan Hall.
Sophomore left fielder Henry Singer added to the total with a two-run single of his own before senior second baseman Evan Nagel capped the inning's scoring off with bases clearing no-doubt about it home run to right field that cleared the scoreboard. Nagel's third homer of his career pushed the Bears lead to 8-0.
WashU added a four-run outburst in the fifth inning and five more in the sixth as a bevy of substitutions filled the scorecard. Durbin knocked in Singer after he reached base on a bunt single and stole second. Freshman right fielder Jackson Gray hit a line drive to deep center field for a triple and knocked in two Bears before scoring on a wild pitch to increase WashU's advantage to 12-0.
The Bears batted through the lineup for the second time in the contest during the sixth inning after Howard got things started with a leadoff single. Sophomore Ty Dalinghaus, junior Brian Schutter, freshman Andrew Huang and sophomore Sean Robinson had pinch hit RBIs for WashU while previously entered freshman Tim Van Kirk also provided a run scoring double as well. The Bears totaled three walks and five hits including four extra base hits during the final barrage of runs.
Closing out the shutout were a pair of freshmen seeing their first varsity action of the year. Matt Bauer and Austin Sachen recorded the final three outs to preserve the ninth shutout of the season for WashU which leads DIII.
WashU will host Monmouth on Sunday, April 28 in a doubleheader beginning at noon. Be sure to stay up to date on all your Bears scores and awards by following @WashUBears on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.