St. Louis, Mo. Feb. 29, 2020 – The No. 4-ranked Washington University in St. Louis baseball team pounded out 12 hits in a 13-3 eight-inning victory over Illinois Institute of Technology in game one of a three-game series Saturday at Kelly Field in St. Louis.

WashU improved to 4-0 with the win, while IIT fell to 0-1. 

Sophomore Caleb Durbin went 3-for-4 with four runs scored and three RBIs, while senior John Brinkman (2-5, home run, six RBI) and juniors Collin Kahal (2-3, run scored) and Sean Robinson (2-3, two runs, two walks, two RBI) had multi-hit games for WashU.

WashU scored five runs in the first two innings to jump out in front 5-1.

Durbin singled to score in a run in the second, and then Brinkman pushed across two runs with a single to make it four-run contest.

WashU put the game out of reach scoring four runs and three hits in the sixth.

Durbin drove in two runs with a single, while Robinson and Brinkman each recorded an RBI in the sixth.

Brinkman ended the game with a three-run homerun in the eighth. The round tripper for Brinkman was the seventh of his career. 

Senior Matt Ashbaugh (2-0) picked up the win limiting IIT to three hits and three earned runs in six innings with eight strikeouts, while junior Jared Fong allowed two hits in two innings in relief. 

UP NEXT: WashU hosts IIT in a doubleheader on Sunday, March 1, beginning at 10 a.m.

BEAR NOTEBOOK:
• WashU is off to a 4-0 start for the first time since 2006
• Robinson leads the UAA in batting average (.533), while Ashbaugh is first in wins (2)
• Brinkman moved into seventh in school history in RBI (131)
• The 13 runs were a season high for WashU