The Case Western Reserve University baseball team opened its four-game series with New York University at Maimonides Park in Brooklyn with a sweep of a doubleheader on Friday, winning the first game 9-4 and securing a 15-3 victory in the nightcap.
The Spartans have now won six of their last seven games to improve to 16-12 overall and got back to .500 in the conference with a 5-5 University Athletic Association record. NYU fell to 12-13 for the season with a 5-8 UAA mark.
CWRU's offense totaled 24 runs on 30 hits over the two games on Friday. Junior third baseman Zack Carinci hit safely in both games to extend his hitting streak to 19-straight contests. Senior catcher Jack Anderson picked up a pair of hits in the first game but went hitless in the second, ending his hitting streak at 23-straight contest, matching the third-longest ever by a CWRU hitter.
Game 1 – CWRU 9, NYU 4
The Spartans scored eight unanswered runs in the middle third of the opening game and cruised to a 9-4 win over the Violets.
Junior outfielder Connor Stephenson went three-for-five with a double and two runs batted in, raising his season batting average to .375. Anderson, senior designated hitter Trey Haley, first-year outfielder Matt Trout, and senior shortstop Owen Levinson each added two hits in the game, and senior first baseman Nick Talarico went one-for-three with his fourth home run of the campaign. CWRU outhit NYU 14-10 in the game.
After a scoreless first inning, the Spartans jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Stephenson followed a two-out double by Trout with a run-scoring single. Meanwhile, CWRU junior starter Reece Marley worked around trouble in each of the first two innings, pitching around a leadoff double in the first and escaping a bases-loaded no out situation without allowing a run in the second. However, the Violets evened the score in the bottom of the third with back-to-back doubles.
Trout drove in the Spartans' second run of the game on a safety squeeze bunt that plated Carinci in the top of the fourth, giving the Spartans a 2-1 advantage. With two outs in the inning and a runner on third, Talarico hit a two-run home run to extend the Spartans' lead to 4-1. CWRU added three more in the fifth on an RBI groundout by Haley, a run-scoring single from Trout, and a double by Stephenson. In the sixth, first-year second baseman Jasiah Harris singled to score Levinson and Anderson scored on a groundout from sophomore outfielder Nick Harms to put CWRU in front 9-1.
Marley allowed just the one run in his six innings of work, scattering six hits and four walks and striking out five. He earned the win in the game to improve to 4-2 for the campaign. First-year Ryan Castrillon pitched the final three innings, allowing three runs (two earned) to pick up the first save of his career.
NYU starter Ashwin Chona suffered the loss, falling to 2-2 for the season.
Game 2 – CWRU 15, NYU 3
The Spartans scored six runs in the first and two in the second to take an 8-0 lead and run away early from the Violets in a 15-3 win in the second game of the doubleheader.
CWRU graduate student Evan Faxon turned in one of his strongest efforts of the season, allowing just three runs on four hits and a walk with five strikeouts. He earned his second win in as many starts, improving to 2-3 on the season.
At the plate, senior first baseman RJ Christie went two-for-four with a pair of runs, three RBIs, and a walk. Sophomore outfielder Jay Smith added a three-for-three day at the plate with an RBI and a walk, and Levinson went a career-best four-for-five with three RBIs, a double, and a walk. Haley added a pair of RBIs and scored two runs in the game. Trout, who pinch hit late in the contest, went two-for-two with a double and a pair of runs batted in.
CWRU sent 11 batters to the plate in the first inning. The first four batters of the game each reached, including a double by Harms that scored the first run of the game. Later in the frame, a bases-loaded hit by Christie scored a pair to extend the Spartans' lead to 3-0, and back-to-back run scoring singles by Smith and Levinson put CWRU in front 5-0. A sacrifice fly by Anderson capped off the Spartans' scoring in the inning, giving the team a 6-0 lead.
The Spartans sent eight more batters to the plate in the second inning, extending their lead on run-scoring hits by sophomore outfielder Logan Andreyko and Levinson. In the third, Harris scored on a stolen base attempt with runners at first and third to add a run to the CWRU lead.
CWRU added on three more runs in the top of the seventh, scoring two on a double by Haley and another on a base hit by Christie. In the top of the ninth, a two-RBI single by Trout increased the lead to 14-3, and a double by Levinson scored another run and capped off the Spartans' scoring for the day.
After Faxon's seven strong innings, junior Andrew Allen and first-year Archer Stankowski each followed with scoreless frames in relief to complete the win.
NYU starter Andrew Reid suffered the loss to fall to 0-1 on the year.
With rain predicted on Saturday, the Spartans and the Violets will now conclude their series with a doubleheader on Sunday starting at 10:00 a.m. at Maimonides Park in Brooklyn.