St. Louis, Mo. – The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team split its home-opening doubleheader on Saturday against Illinois Wesleyan at Kelly Field. 

The Bears dropped the first game 8-6, but dominated game two with a 21-3 victory (F/7). 

WashU earns its first win of the 2022 season and sits at 1-4 overall, as IWU is currently 1-5. 

The Bears will conclude their three-game series against the Titans tomorrow at Noon. 

Game one- IWU 8, WashU 6

In a back-and-forth contest, it was the Titans who recorded an early advantage following an RBI double in the top of the first. 

WashU answered back with a solo home run from Broghan O'Connor in the bottom of the second to tie up the game. 

IWU tacked on a run in the fourth off another RBI double and then extended the lead out to 4-1 after a two-run homer in the fifth. 

The Bears cut into the lead, scoring two runs in the fifth, as Harry Mauterer ripped a home run to left and then Clayton Miller notched an RBI single to score Tim Van Kirk, making it a 4-3 ballgame. 

Trailing 5-3 in the sixth, WashU fought back again and tied up the game after Zac Styka crossed the plate on a wild pitch and a Van Kirk RBI groundout brought home Kaden Bernhard to tie up the game at 5-5. 

Momentum shifted back to the Titans following the seventh inning where IWU added three runs on two hits after loading up the bases late in the inning. 

Zac Malis connected on an RBI single to center in the eighth, which scored Mauterer as the Bears tried to rally back. 

WashU threatened in the ninth with the bases loaded and nobody out, but came up empty-handed. 

Clayton Miller, who got the start on the mound, pitched six innings and struck out five, as he earned a no-decision on the day. 

In total, Illinois Wesleyan posted eight hits and the Bears recorded seven. 

O'Connor and Mauterer finished the game with multi-hit games with two hits apiece. 

Game two- WashU 21, IWU 3 

In game two, it was all Bears, as WashU scored 21 runs on 20 hits. 

Illinois Wesleyan scored in the top of the first, but WashU scored 10 unanswered runs in the next two frames to take a commanding 10-1 lead. 

The Bears got things started with an RBI single from Clayton Miller to tie up the game. Brandon Buday scored off a wild pitch and then Miller scored off Broghan O'Connor's RBI double to left, pushing the Bears in front 3-1. 

With seven runs on five hits, the Bears had another huge offensive production in the second inning. 

Van Kirk connected on an RBI single to score Zac Malis to begin the offensive barrage. Moments later, Buday answered with a two-RBI single up the middle, extending WU's lead out to 6-1. 

After Buday scored on a bases loaded walk, the Bears brought in three more runs as Mauterer's two-RBI ground-rule double made it 9-1 and Malis' sacrifice fly scored Jack Miller for the seventh run of the frame. 

In the third, the Bears had another impressive offensive display with eight runs on seven hits. 

WU kept its offense rolling with three additional runs in the fifth on four hits. 

First-year Brandon Buday had a great effort at the plate throughout the afternoon with a 4-4 performance and six RBI, which is tied for seventh-most in a single game in school history. 

Senior captain Tim Van Kirk finished 4-5 with an RBI and a team-best five runs scored, while Clayton Miller and Zac Malis both notched three hits each. Malis led the Bears' bats with two doubles on the day. 

Mauterer and Hunter Goldberg both posted three RBI each in the win. 

On the mound, first-year Sebastian Guzman was lights out in his first collegiate victory, pitching a complete game with seven strikeouts.