Spartans Take Two from Oberlin on Saturday

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The Case Western Reserve University baseball team picked a pair of wins at Oberlin College on Saturday, defeating the Yeomen 9-3 in the opening game, and 15-1 in seven innings in the second game to complete the sweep at Dill Field in Oberlin, Ohio.

The Spartans have now won four-straight games and 10 of their last 13 to improve to 12-6 overall. Oberlin dropped to 1-5 with the two losses.

CWRU's two starting pitchers – junior lefty Nick Denove and senior righty Matt Levine – combined to pitch nine scoreless innings over the two games. Senior shortstop Jacob Lott went five-for-eight with five runs scored, two doubles, and two RBIs, and first-year third baseman Zack Carinci hit safely in both contests, going two-for-four with four runs, a double, and four walks, while extending his hitting streak to 12-straight games and raising his batting average to a team-best .365.

Twelve different Spartan players registered at least one hit during Saturday's doubleheader, as the team combined to score 24 runs on 26 hits over the two contests.

Game 1 – CWRU 9, Oberlin 3
Senior outfielder Benjamin Stawicki and sophomore outfielder Flynn Lenahan each homered and combined to drive in seven runs, and four Spartan pitchers held the Yeomen to just three runs on six hits, as CWRU earned a 9-3 win over Oberlin in the first game of the doubleheader.

Stawicki finished the game a double shy of the cycle, going three-for-four with a run scored, three RBIs and a walk. He raised his batting average to .350 following the effort and is tied with sophomore Jonathan Simon for the team lead with 13 RBIs this season. Lenahan added a one-for-five performance with five RBIs.

The Spartans rallied with two outs to take the lead in the bottom of the first. After retiring the first two batters of the game, Oberlin starter Ian Ashby hit senior catcher Tre Armstrong and issued back-to-back walks to sophomore second baseman Nick Talarico and Carinci to load the bases. Simon followed with a single to score two runs and give CWRU a 2-0 advantage.

Lott led off the second inning with a double, and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Lenahan to extend the team's lead to 3-0. CWRU utilized the long ball in the top of the third to expand its lead further, with Stawicki a two-run home run with one out in the inning, his team-leading third of the campaign, and Lenahan adding a three-run home run with two outs, his second of the year, to put the Spartans in front 8-0.

Stawicki added another RBI with a two-out single in the top of the sixth, putting the Spartans ahead 9-0.

Meanwhile, Denove notched one of his best starts of the season for the Spartans, pitching five shutout innings to earn the win. The left-handed hurler held the Yeomen to just two hits and struck out three batters, leaving the contest after throwing just 63 pitches with a large lead in hand. Oberlin scored an unearned run in the seventh against first-year reliever Tyler Horvath and two in the ninth against first-year southpaw Reece Marley, but Marley would induce a double play in the ninth, and junior reliver Keaton Stankowski retired the only batter he faced on a ground ball to second to end the game.

Denove improved to 3-2 on the year with the win, while Ashby suffered the loss for Oberlin to fall to 1-1.

Game 2 – CWRU 15, Oberlin 1 (7 innings)
CWRU jumped out to a 9-0 lead after the first inning and never looked back, en route to a 15-1 game-two win in seven innings.

CWRU recorded season highs in the game with 15 runs on 17 hits, the highest totals the team has put up in either category since a 17-4 win over Brandeis on April 27, 2019.

Sophomore catcher Jack Anderson went three-for-five with two runs and two doubles in the game, while driving in a career-high six runs. Lott and Talarico each went three-for-four with three runs scored and two RBIs, while sophomore outfielder Trey Haley, sophomore designated hitter David Dillman, and sophomore second baseman Owen Levinson each added two hits in the game.

The Spartans sent 15 batters to the plate in the top of the first inning, scoring nine runs on six hits during the frame. Haley was hit by a pitch with one out and the bases loaded the bring the first run across, and Anderson with a two-run single to give CWRU a 3-0 advantage. Sophomore outfielder Kevin Mackenzie made it 4-0 with a run-scoring groundout, and Dillman to drive in another run. Later in the inning, Lott and Talarico each added two-run singles, extending the Spartans lead to 9-0.

Haley drove in another run in the third with a two-out RBI double, and Anderson produced two more runs with a bases-loaded double in the fifth.

Levine started game two and delivered four shutout innings, striking out five batters and allowing just three hits and two walks. Sophomore righty Sankalp Doshi allowed a run on two hits and struck out three in the fifth, and senior righty Tony Smodilla added a scoreless sixth inning, striking out three as well.

In the seventh, the Spartans added on three more runs on another two-RBI double by Anderson, and an RBI single by Dillman, capping off the team's scoring. Simon worked around a pair of hits in the bottom of the seventh to pitch a scoreless frame and close out the victory for CWRU.

With the strong showing during the late contest on Saturday, Anderson is now batted .423 with nine RBIs through seven games played this season.

Levine earned his first win of the season in the game, improving to 1-2 on the year, while Oberlin starter Jake Freed took the loss to fall to 0-1.

The Spartans are scheduled to return to action next weekend with a four-game series against Denison University. CWRU will host the Big Red at Nobby's Ballpark on Saturday, April 17 with a doubleheader starting at 1:00 p.m.