Auburndale, Fla., March 15, 2017 – Washington University in St. Louis baseball suffered its fifth defeat of the season Wednesday afternoon as it fell 4-1 to Wheaton (Mass.) College in Auburndale, Fla at Mickey Etherton Stadium. 

WashU is 7-5 on the season after the loss and Wheaton improved to 3-3 with the win. The Bears finished the game with nine hits compared to the Lyons eight. Seniors Austin Darmawan and Ben Browdy both finished the game with two hits apiece.

Sophomore John Howard was the Bears starting pitcher and threw six quality innings, allowing three runs on five hits, four walks and four strikeouts. He started the seventh inning but a leadoff walk led to senior Bill Heisler entering in relief. The Lyons added three hits and two walks in the seventh inning which helped Wheaton increase its lead to 4-0.

The Bears struck back with their lone run of the game in the bottom of the seventh to pull within three. Senior Tate Maider singled to left field before Ted Daley was hit by a pitch and a single by senior Scott Nelson loaded the bases for pinch hitting sophomore John Ostrander.

Ostrander reached first and kept the bases loaded when the Lyons' second baseman was charged with an error as Maider scored. However, WashU was unable to cut the deficit further as Darmawan popped out to the catcher and freshman John Brinkman grounded into a fielder's choice to end the threat.

Back-to-back singles in the eighth by senior Christian Santos and junior Conor O'Hara were neutralized with a double play; and the game concluded in a swinging strikeout and caught stealing after a leadoff walk in the ninth for the Bears by sophomore Ethan Kuehl.

Heisler struck out three batters in two innings of work and senior Matt Clohisy pitched a perfect ninth for WashU. 

The Bears will face No. 24 Suffolk University on Thursday in Auburndale, Fla. at 10 a.m. (E.T.) Be sure to stay up to date on all your Bears scores and awards by following @WashUBears on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.