ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team opened University Athletic Association (UAA) play with the first of four contests this weekend against New York University, Friday, March 29. The Bears tallied six runs in the first two innings to grab the 9-7 victory over the Violets. 

With the victory, WashU's record upped to 15-8 (1-0 UAA), while NYU's record slipped to 13-4 (0-1 UAA). 

Junior Sebastian Guzman earned the win (2-0) on the mound. Guzman fired five innings of work, allowing five hits and two walks. Guzman also struck out five in his outing. 

Junior Hank Weiss tossed the final four innings, en route to notching his third save of the season.  

WashU outhit the Violets by a final tally of 11-10. Sophomore Shane Pellegrino, graduate student Evan Minarovic, senior Clayton Miller, and junior Dax Braemer each produced two hits for the Bears. Minarovic, Braemer, and graduate student Sam Polk each grabbed two RBI. 

The Bears scored a pair of runs, on three hits, in the opening frame. Pellegrino led off the game with a sharp single to left. Senior Harry Mauterer then reached on a fielder's choice, as Pellegrino was forced out at second. Maurterer then swiped second to get himself into scoring position. Minarovic blooped a single over the third baseman's head which allowed Mauterer to scamper home to put the score at 1-0, in favor of WashU. 

Later in the frame, junior Braden Mazone earned a base on balls to load the bases, with only one out. Stepping into the batter's box, Braemer lined a sacrifice fly to the warning track in center to bring home Clayton Miller. After the first inning of play, WashU held the 2-0 advantage. 

Senior Zac Malis opened up the bottom of the second with a no-doubt homer to left as the ball landed on Forsyth Boulevard for Malis' second round-tripper of the season. After the blast, WashU took the 3-0 lead. With two on and two out in the bottom of the second, Minarovic pounced on an inside offering and just kept it fair down the left field line which allowed Mauterer and Pellegrino to cross the plate. After the two RBI double, the Bears extended its lead to 5-0. The Bears added another tally on a Braemer RBI single to short to snag the 6-0 cushion after the first two innings of play. 

The Violets tagged WashU for four runs in the top of the third to trim the deficit to a pair, 6-4. 

WashU grabbed three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Clayton Miller scored the first run of the inning on a wild pitch, then Polk torched a single to right to push across two runs with Mazone and Minarovic scoring on the base knock. With four innings in the books, the Bears held the five-run, 9-4, cushion. 

NYU manufactured two runs in the top of the sixth to put the score at 9-6, in favor of WashU. 

Weiss closed the door and thwarted NYU's comeback efforts. The Violets scored one in the ninth, but a flyout to right ended the contest as the Bears won by a final score of 9-7. 

WashU will continue its weekend slate with NYU tomorrow, Saturday, March 30 with a twin bill. First pitch from Kelly Field is scheduled for 12 p.m., with game two scheduled for a half hour after game one.