Auburndale, Fla. – The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team had a complete team effort on Tuesday, defeating Southern Maine 5-1 at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. 

The Bears improve to 2-7 on the season with the win, while Southern Maine moves to 2-5 on the year. 

WashU's pitching staff had an excellent outing, as Austin Sachen recorded his first victory of the season, getting the start on the mound. 

Sachen pitched five innings of work and struck out eight batters, while allowing just four hits and one earned run. 

Clayton Miller, who pitched the remainder of the contest in relief, went four innings, allowing no runs and just four hits in the outing. In addition, Miller finished with four strikeouts as he and Sachen combined for 12 strikeouts on the day. 

It was a pitcher's duel at the beginning of the game, as both teams were held scoreless in the first three frames. 

WashU broke through in the top of the fourth with three runs on three hits as they took advantage of its opportunity with runners in scoring position. 

With two outs in the inning, Tim Van Kirk sparked the Bears' offense with an RBI single to bring home Clayton Miller for a 1-0 edge. 

In the following at-bat, Jack Miller would score off an error and an RBI single from Zac Malis brought home Van Kirk for a 3-0 Bears lead. 

Southern Maine would get one run back in the bottom half of the inning, scoring off a double-steal at second base and home. 

The Huskies were shut out the rest of the contest as both Sachen and Miller kept USM's lineup in check. 

In the top of the eighth, WashU added two important insurance runs to extend the lead out to 5-1. The Bears loaded up the bases after Magnus Dunn reached on a single, Jack Miller was hit by a pitch, and then Van Kirk collected his third hit of the day. 

With the bases juiced, WashU scored its first run off an infield error, followed by a Zac Malis sacrifice fly, which scored Miller. 

Southern Maine was limited to only one hit in the final two innings of action as the Bears preserved the victory. 

In total, WU finished the game with seven hits. Van Kirk notched his second multi-hit game of the season with a 3-4 effort at the plate, while also extending his consecutive RBI streak to seven games. 

Dunn registered two hits in the win and Malis led WashU with two RBI. 

The Bears will face Spalding tomorrow morning at 10:15 a.m. EST for their final game of the RussMatt Central Florida Invite.