The Case Western Reserve University baseball team mounted a pair of come-from-behind victories against New York University on Saturday at Nobby's Ballpark in Cleveland, Ohio, picking up a 7-6 win in the opening game of the doubleheader, followed by a 7-5 win in the second contest.
Sophomore pitcher Tyler Horvath came out of the bullpen in each game, earning his fifth save of the season in the first contest, and his first win over the campaign in the second. He retired all nine batters he faced in the two games, pitching a perfect inning in game one and adding two flawless innings in the second.
With the two wins, CWRU improved to 17-15 overall, and are a game in the loss column ahead of Emory for first place in the league standings with an 8-3 University Athletic Association record. NYU dropped to 17-8 overall with a 7-8 conference record following the two losses on Saturday.
Game 1 – CWRU 7, NYU 6
First-year outfielder tied the game at 6-6 with a solo home run to lead off the seventh, and junior first baseman Nick Talarico scored the eventual game-winning run on a wild pitch with two outs later in the inning to give the Spartans a 7-6 win over the Violets in the opening game of the doubleheader.
CWRU overcame a 5-1 deficit after four innings to pick up the win. Sophomore Matthew DuBois earned the win in relief, allowing just one run on two hits and striking out five batters in three innings, improving to 2-0 on the year. Horvath closed out the game with a perfect ninth for his fifth save of the campaign.
NYU scored a pair of runs in the top of the second inning off CWRU sophomore starter Reece Marley. A two-out RBI single by junior second baseman Trey Haley in the bottom of the inning scored senior outfielder Cole Jarrett and cut the lead to 2-1. However, NYU added an unearned run in the third and two more in the fourth to take a 5-1 lead.
The Spartans remained behind by four until the fifth, when the team loaded the bases with a one out walk to sophomore third baseman Zack Carinci, a single by Harms and an error that allowed Talarico to reach base. After a pop out, Jarrett delivered a two-run single to pull CWRU back within two runs, 5-3, and first-year outfielder Logan Andreyko doubled to tie the score at 5-5.
NYU regained the lead with a run in the top of the sixth against DuBois. However, he held NYU scoreless over the next two frames, allowing Harms to tie the game with the solo blast to lead off the seventh. The next batter, Talarico, drew a walk and moved up to third on productive groundouts by graduate student designated hitter Tre Armstrong and Jarrett. NYU made a pitching change, bringing in Jason Pearson, who threw a wild pitch that allowed Talarico to score the eventual game-winning run from third.
NYU was unable to muster a base runner over the final two innings against DuBois and Horvath.
Harms finished the game three-for-four with two runs scored, an RBI and a home run. Junior catcher Jack Anderson, Jarrett, Andreyko and Haley each picked up two hits, as the Spartans outhit NYU 13-6 in the contest.
NYU starter Tyler Judge allowed all seven runs, with just three earned, and suffered the loss to fall to 3-2 on the campaign.
Game 2 – CWRU 7, NYU 5
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Spartans rallied for three runs in their final at bat, turning a one-run deficit into a two-run lead in a 7-5 win over the Violets.
Trailing 5-4 heading into the bottom of the eighth and facing NYU closer John Gassler (who pitched two hitless innings in a save against the Spartans on Friday), three Spartans were able to cross the plate in the frame. Junior Kevin Mackenzie led the inning off with a pinch-hit walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jarrett. Despite falling behind in the count 1-2, first-year Mitchell Schultz battled back to draw a walk of his own, and Haley followed with a game-tying single to left field, scoring Mackenzie and knotting the score at 5-5. Two NYU errors later in the inning allowed both Schultz and Haley to score, giving the Spartans a 7-5 edge heading into the top of the ninth.
Horvath, who entered the game in the eighth, induced three groundouts in the ninth to pick up the win and improve to 1-1 on the campaign, while lowering his ERA to 1.61.
NYU scored an unearned run in the first against CWRU senior starter Nick Denove. CWRU answered in the bottom of the third with senior shortstop Jacob Lott doubling to start the inning and scoring on an RBI single by Anderson a batter later. Carinci followed with a single of his own, and Harms drove both runners in with a towering fly ball double to the warning track in right field, giving CWRU a 3-1 advantage. Harms later advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Talarico.
NYU eventually regained the lead, scoring a run in the bottom of the fourth and three more (two earned) in the top of the sixth to take a 5-4 lead. The Violets' advantage held until the Spartans were once again able to overcome the deficit in the bottom of the eighth.
Carinci reached base in all five of his plate appearances in the game, going three-for-three with two walks, a run scored and a stolen base.
The Spartans and the Violets will wrap-up their four-game series tomorrow with a single game, scheduled for a 11:00 a.m. first pitch at Nobby's Ballpark.