The Case Western Reserve University baseball team continued a stretch of strong play on Saturday with a sweep of a doubleheader against Ohio Wesleyan University on Saturday afternoon at Nobby's Ballpark. The Spartans won the opening game 15-8, before claiming a 10-2 win in the second game of the day.

With the two wins, the Spartans have now won 11 straight games and 15 of their last 16. CWRU improved to 25-12 overall, while Ohio Wesleyan fell to 16-19 with the two losses.

Junior third baseman Zack Carinci hit safely in both games to make program history by extending his hitting streak to 28 games, matching the longest ever by a Spartan (former CWRU player Sam Alexander hit safely in 28-straight games during the 2011 season). Three other CWRU players also hit safely in both games to extend their hitting streaks to double figures, including first-year second baseman Jasiah Harris (12 games), senior outfielder Trey Haley (11 games), and senior first baseman Nick Talarico (10 games).

Game 1 – CWRU 15, OWU 8
The Spartans jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in a 15-8 win over the Battling Bishops in the opening game of the doubleheader.

Graduate student Evan Faxon started and went six innings to earn the win, holding Ohio Wesleyan to just one unearned run on three hits and three walks while striking out eight batters.  It was the fourth-straight start that Faxon has won, as he improved to 4-3 for the season.

Haley led the second inning off with a double and scored on a two-out single from senior shortstop Owen Levinson. Senior catcher Jack Anderson followed with a two-run double to straightaway centerfield, giving the Spartans a 3-0 lead. CWRU added five more two-out runs in the bottom of the fourth as Harris tripled to score a pair and Carinci, sophomore outfielder Nick Harms, and Haley each followed with run-scoring hits to put the Spartans ahead 8-0.

Ohio Wesleyan scored a run in the top of the fifth, but CWRU scored three more in the sixth to go ahead 11-1, and then added four more in the seventh to go ahead 15-1. The Battling Bishops scored six runs in the top of the eighth to cut the Spartans' lead to eight runs.

CWRU totaled 16 hits and drew nine walks in the game. Haley went four-for-six in the game with double, two runs scored, and an RBI. Anderson, Harris, Carinci, and Talarico each added a pair of hits, and Anderson, Harris, and Levinson all drove in a pair of runs.

Ohio Wesleyan starter Andy Anthony suffered the loss to fall to 2-4 on the season.

Game 2 – CWRU 10, OWU 2
Sophomore starting pitcher Kyle Gearding pitched seven strong innings and Talarico added a three-for-four performance at the plate to help lead the Spartans to a 10-2 win over the Bishops to complete a sweep of the doubleheader.

Talarico scored three runs and drove in a pair in the game while belting a pair of doubles and raising his batting average to .290. Harms added a two-for-four performance with a pair of doubles, a stolen base, and two RBIs, while Levinson went two-for-four in the game with a run, an RBI, and a stolen base.

Gearding scattered six hits and four walks in the game, allowing just two runs and striking out five. After allowing single runs in the second and third innings, he held Ohio Wesleyan scoreless over his final four innings of work, earning the win to improve to 6-1 on the season.

After Ohio Wesleyan scored a run in the top of the second to take its first lead of the day, CWRU responded with three in the bottom of the inning on a run-scoring groundout by Haley, an RBI hits from Talarico and Levinson. The Bishops scored again in the third to pull back within a run, but CWRU added two runs onto its lead with an RBI single from Talarico, who scored a batter later on a double by sophomore outfielder Logan Andreyko. In the bottom of the fifth, a two-run double by Harms and an RBI groundout from Haley put CWRU in front 8-2, and a sacrifice fly by Anderson in the sixth, followed by a run-scoring single from Harris, extending the Spartans' advantage to 10-2.

Senior Jonathan Simon and junior Patrick O'Connor each pitched a scoreless inning in relief to close out the game.

Ohio Wesleyan starter Jason Monos suffered the loss to fall to 3-4 for the season.

The Spartans will be back in action on Sunday at Nobby's Ballpark, hosting Mount Union for a 2:00 p.m. first pitch.