GREENVILLE, Pa. – The Case Western Reserve University baseball team totaled 20 runs on 33 hits in a doubleheader sweep of Thiel College on Saturday afternoon at Tomcat Park. The Spartans rolled to victory in game one by a score of 13-1 and then edged the host Tomcats, 7-5, in the nightcap.
The Spartans improve to 12-6 overall and are back in western Pennsylvania next Saturday, April 6 for a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader at Westminster College in New Wilmington.
The two losses drop the Tomcats to 7-8 for the season.
Combined in the two games, sophomore rightfielder Andrew Gronski (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) was 6-for-9, while senior second baseman Paul Pakan (Tallmadge, Ohio/Tallmadge) was 6-for-10 with five runs batted in and a stolen base.
In game one, the Spartans broke a scoreless tie with four runs on six-straight singles to open the third. Pakan, senior first baseman Brett Ossola (Potomac, Md./Bullis School) and sophomore catcher Robert Winemiller (Twinsburg, Ohio/University School) all drove in runs during the rally. Thiel got a run back in the bottom of the inning thanks to a single and an error, but Spartan starter Jamie Hora (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg) got out of a jam with a double play and a strikeout.
In the fourth, the Spartans started off the inning in similar fashion when senior shortstop Matt Keen (Tallmadge, Ohio/Tallmadge) and Gronski led off with back-to-back singles. Pakan then drove Keen home with a double, and Ossola plated a pair with an opposite-field single. Sophomore designated hitter Jordan Swisher (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Sutherland) and freshman third baseman Mike Ilacqua (Mayfield Village, Ohio/University School) accounted for the fourth and fifth runs of the inning with back-to-back RBI singles.
Four more runs crossed the plate in the eighth with Gronski driving home two on a double, and Pakan chasing home a pair with a single.
On the mound, Hora followed up a strong outing last weekend with an even better one today, allowing just one earned run on five hits in six innings with a season-high seven strikeouts. Junior "southpaw" John Fortunato (Toledo, Ohio/St. Francis de Sales) threw the seventh and eighth without surrendering a score.
For the game, Gronski was a career-best 4-for-4 with a walk, three runs scored and two RBI. Pakan was 3-for-5 and tied a career high with four RBI. Swisher was 3-for-5, Keen was 3-for-6 with two runs and Ossola was 2-for-4 with three RBI.
Cody Northcott lasted just three innings and was the losing pitcher for the Tomcats, while Nick Schiavonni paced the hosts at the plate with a 2-for-3 performance.
In game two, the Spartans picked up right where they left off with three runs in the first on three hits. Sophomore leftfielder William Meador (Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) singled, stole second and scored on an error. Three batters later, Pakan drove in another run with a single up the middle before coming home to score on Winemiller's first career triple.
In the bottom of the inning, the Tomcats responded with their runs of their own on five hits. Trent Smith provided the key hit with a two-run double as Spartan freshman starter Neal Krentz (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser) and his career-opening streak without allowing an earned run ended at 10.2 innings.
Thiel then grabbed its first lead of the day in the fourth following an RBI double by Doug Farely, but the Spartans regained the advantage when sophomore centerfielder Kerrigan Cain (Hartfield, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) hit a two-run double to right in the top of the sixth. Refusing to go away, Thiel tied the score in the bottom of the inning on an Eric Steininger RBI triple.
However, the Spartans would clinch the sweep two innings later as Ossola led off the eighth with a walk and eventually came around to score on a pinch-hit sacrifice fly by junior pinch hitter Andrew Frey (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor). Ossola added some insurance in the ninth with a two-out, RBI single.
On the mound, junior right-hander Josh Suvak (Independence, Ohio/Independence) was stellar in relief with five innings of one-run ball. Suvak allowed just three hits and a walk while striking out a pair to improve to 2-1.
For the game, Pakan was 3-for-5 with a stolen base and two runs. Gronski was 2-for-5, while Meador was 2-for-4.