Box Score St. Louis, Mo., April 16, 2014 – The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team scored three runs in each of the first three innings on the way to a 15-3 rout of Fontbonne University Wednesday afternoon at Kelly Field.
Twelve different players for Washington U. recorded hits as the Bears finished with a season-high 21 hits, including a season-high seven doubles. Junior Zack Kessinger finished 3-for-5 at the plate with three runs scored, three RBIs and a double. Junior Chris Lowery was 3-for-4 with three runs and a double, while freshman CJ Price also finished 3-for-4 with an RBI. Junior Brandon Deger was 2-for-5 with two doubles, two RBIs and a run. Sophomore Kyle Kozak (2-for-3, double, two runs, RBI) and freshman Scott Nelson (2-for-2, run, RBI) added two hits each.
Five pitchers combined to allow just seven hits and two earned runs in the win for Washington U. Freshman Nick Gollin made his first-career start on the staff pitching day, throwing three perfect innings with three strikeouts to improve to 4-1 this season. Freshman Matt Clohisy also pitched three scoreless innings in relief, while sophomore Julian Clarke, freshman Bill Heisler and junior Ian Kelso threw one inning apiece.
In the bottom of the first, Kozak hit a one-out single to shallow center field, and Lowery followed with double down the right-field line. Kessinger took the first pitch he saw and drove a two-RBI double to the gap in right-center field. Price drew a two-out walk and Deger followed with a double to left to score Kessinger. Senior Kyle Billig was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but a groundout ended the inning with the Bears leading 3-0.
Washington U. added three more runs in the bottom of the second. Kozak again got things started with a one-out double and Lowery followed with a single. Kessinger singled through the right side to score Kozak, before Price drove a two-out RBI single up the middle. Deger hit his second sdouble off the left-field fence to score Kessinger and make the score 6-0.
In the bottom of the third, sophomore Max Golembo drove a one-out single to left-center to reach base for the 28th consecutive game. Lowery got his third hit of the game and Kessinger was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs. Senior Andrew Dwoskin followed with a bases-clearing double to deep left-center field to extend the Bears' lead to 9-0.
Fontbonne got on the scoreboard with two runs on three hits in the top of the fourth to make it 9-2. In the bottom of the inning, Washington U. added a pair of unearned runs to extend the lead back to nine runs at 11-2. The Bears added one run each in the sixth and seventh innings on RBI singles by Nelson and freshman Austin Darmawan before the Griffins got another run in the top of the eighth to make it 13-3. In the bottom of the eighth, Nelson hit a leadoff single through the left side and senior Dylan Reid hit an RBI double to left field. Junior Brian Cizek finished the scoring in the game with a sacrifice fly that scored Reid later in the inning to make the final score 15-3 in favor of the Bears.
Washington U. improved to 14-14 with the win, while Fontbonne dropped to 17-11. The Bears return home to host a four-game series against DePauw University Friday-Saturday. First pitch of the doubleheader each day is set for Noon at Kelly Field.
Bear Notebook: Fontbonne earned a 12-10 win over the Bears Feb. 25 … It was the 14th time this season the Bears have recorded double-digit hits, improving to 10-4 in those games … Deger extended his hitting streak to 11 games … Kessinger had his team-leading 12th multiple-hit game of the season.
