Case Western Reserve University junior third baseman Zack Carinci and first-year second baseman Jasiah Harris each hit three-run home runs and junior southpaw Reece Marley allowed just two runs over six innings to lead the Spartans to a 16-2 win over the University of Mary Washington in the teams' opening game of the 2023 NCAA Division III Baseball Marietta Regional in Marietta, Ohio on Friday afternoon.

With the win, the Spartans will face host and 11^th-ranked Marietta at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday in their second game of the double-elimination tournament. The winner of Saturday's game will advance to Sunday's regional championship game, while the losing team will have to fend off elimination later in the day at 6:00 p.m. against either Mary Washington or Adrian.

CWRU improved to 28-13 with the win while Mary Washington dropped to 28-15 with the loss.

Harris drove in four runs during the game, finishing the contest two-for-six with four RBIs including the three-run home run, and extending his hitting streak to 16-straight games. Carinci stretched his program-record hitting streak to 32 games, going three-for-four with four RBIs and a three-run home run. Senior catcher Jack Anderson added a three-for-four day with his program-record 25^th double and extended his hitting streak to 12 games and is now two hits away from matching Andrew Gronski's single-season record of 86 (2014). Senior outfielder Trey Haley went one-for-three and is now working on a 15-game hitting streak.

CWRU scored its 16 runs on 14 hits, including six for extra bases, to back a strong outing for Marley in his NCAA Tournament debut. Marley held the Eagles to just two runs (one earned) on five hits and four walks while striking out one batter. He picked up his team-leading seventh win of the season with the effort, improving to 7-3, and moved within a pair of strikeouts of the program's single-season record of 80.

The Spartans took immediate control of the game with a pair of three-run home runs over the first two innings of the game. In the first, senior catcher Jack Anderson walked and Harris singled, setting up a three-run home run for Carinci his second of the year, giving CWRU a 3-0 advantage before they recorded an out. In the second, sophomore outfielder Logan Andreyko was hit by a pitch and Anderson walked ahead of Harris, who blasted the first home run of his career over the wall in left to extend the Spartans' lead to 6-0.

CWRU added on three more runs in the third on a run-scoring fielder's choice by Andreyko, an RBI double by Anderson, and an RBI groundout by Harris. The Eagles got on the board with an unearned run against Marley in the bottom of the third, cutting the Spartans' lead to 9-1, and scored another run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth to pull within seven.

In the top of the seventh, Carinci drove in his fourth run of the game with an RBI single to put CWRU ahead 10-2. Senior first baseman Nick Talarico added a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to extend the Spartans' lead to 11-2 and Andreyko added an RBI single later in the inning to push the advantage to 12-2. In the ninth, CWRU added a run on an error and then three more on a three-run home run by first-year outfielder Matt Trout, the first of his career, putting CWRU ahead 16-2.

Junior right-handed pitcher Matthew DuBois pitched the final three innings of the game, holding the Eagles scoreless on a pair of hits and a walk with four strikeouts to close out the win and earn his first save of the season.

Mary Washington starter Jackson Myers suffered the loss, falling to 4-6 for the season.

More information on the Marietta Regional is available on the tournament website at https://pioneers.marietta.edu/sports/bb_ncaa_reg_23. Fans can follow tomorrow's game with live statistics at https://pioneers.marietta.edu/sidearmstats/baseball/summary and live video at https://boxcast.tv/view/ncaa-baseball-regional-game-four-aut1czfpfortcrtkh0px.