MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team saw its win streak halted at five by Rhodes College as the Lynx won a back-and-forth contest, 10-9, Wednesday, March 13. WashU cranked out three long balls in the opening frame, but Rhodes scored four unanswered runs from the sixth-eighth frames to steal the victory.
With the loss, WashU's record now sits at 10-4, while Rhodes' record upped to 9-8 on the year.
On the offensive side of the ball, junior
Brandon Buday and junior
Dax Braemer combined to notch half of WashU's hits (four). Rhodes outhit WashU by a final tally of 11-8.
Sophomore
Shane Pellegrino, picking up right where he left off just 21 hours ago, belted a line drive homer to left on the first pitch he saw in the first inning. With Pellegrino's third homer of the season, WashU took the early 1-0 cushion.
Still in the first, after back-to-back walks from junior
Braden Mazone and senior
Clayton Miller, senior
Kaden Bernhard stepped up to the plate and deposited a three-run home run to left center. In the at bat, Bernhard fell behind 0-2, fouled off a pitch to stay alive, then sent his first home run of the season well over the fence to push WashU's cushion to 4-0.
However, the Bears' bats were not done in the first. Braemer roped a line drive round-tripper over the left field fence for his second homer in as many days. With the solo shot, WashU raced out to the 5-0 advantage as Rhodes' coach signaled to the bullpen for a pitching change.
The Lynx responded with three in the bottom half of the first to trim WashU's lead to a pair, 5-3, after one inning of play.
Rhodes tallied two runs in the bottom of the second to even the score at 5-5.
In the top of the third, Miller walked and Braemer notched a single through the left side to set up first and second, with one out. Senior
Magnus Dunn fought off several tough offerings before he secured an RBI single through the left side as Miller dove in safely just before the throw to give WashU the 6-5 lead.
After the base knock, graduate student
Evan Minarovic drew a walk, Buday manufactured a two RBI single, with Braemer and Dunn scoring to push WashU ahead by three, 8-5.
Pellegrino showcased his defensive prowess in the bottom of the third. With the bases empty, Rhodes sent a groundball up the middle where Pellegrino took a step to his left, dove, got to his feet and fired a short hop to Braemer at first. Braemer completed the play with a nify pick to beat the runner by a step. With the web gem, Pellegrino and the Bears clung to the 8-5 lead as the game progressed to the fourth.
Rhodes tagged WashU for a two out, solo, home run to trim WashU's cushion to two, 8-6, after four innings of play.
WashU got the run back in the top of the fifth. Minarovic drew a two out walk and later stole second to get himself into scoring position. Buday then drove in Minarovic on an RBI double to put WashU in front by three, 9-6.
Rhodes notched two runs in the bottom of the sixth to cut WashU's lead to one, 9-8.
The Lynx manufactured one run in the seventh and eighth to take the one-run, 10-9, advantage.
Looking for another comeback, WashU went down in order in the top of the ninth as Rhodes took the final game of the series, 10-9.
The Bears will return home to Kelly Field for a four-game set with Gustavus Adolphus College, Saturday-Sunday, March 16-17. The two teams will play a doubleheader each day, with contest times set for 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Just like WashU, the Gusties are also receiving votes in the latest d3baseball.com/NCBWA top-25 poll.
