ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team swept the University of Chicago on Saturday with two seven-inning wins over the Maroons. The Bears improve to 8-3 on the season with one more game of the Chicago series tomorrow.
Game 1: WashU 15, Chicago 0 (7 innings)
The Bears came out firing on all cylinders to score six runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Brandon Buday led off with a single to third and
Shane Pellegrino followed with a single up the middle. With one out,
Clayton Miller drilled a double to right field, scoring both Buday and Pellegrino for a 2-0 lead.
Sam Polk singled up the middle to put runners on the corners and then stole second.
Kaden Bernhard doubled to right, scoring Miller and Polk for a 4-0 edge.
Justin Zachery followed with a double down the right field line to score Bernhard and
Dax Braemer was hit by a pitch.
Evan Minarovic reached on a fielder's choice and Zachery headed to third, followed by a Buday walk to load the bases. Pellegrino was then walked, scoring Zachery for the 6-0 lead.
WashU added to its lead in the bottom of the third inning as Minarovic drilled a solo home run over the center field fence to put the Bears ahead 7-0. Pellegrino drew a walk before Mazone hit the second homer of the inning, over the right field fence, to give the Bears a 9-0 lead. Miller followed the homer with a walk and then stole second before Polk sent a double down the right field line to score Miller for a 10-0 advantage.
The Bears continued their offensive dominance in the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out, Braemer was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a wild pitch. Minarovic singled through the left side to bring in Braemer.
Buday doubled down the right field line and Pellegrino was hit by a pitch to load the bases, prompting a Chicago pitching change. Mazone drew a walk to score Minarovic and Miller reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Buday for a 13-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, Bernhard led off with a double down the left field line and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Braemer hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Bernhard for a 14-0 Bears' lead.
WashU tacked on another run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Magnus Dunn led off with a double to left and
Zac Malis singled up the middle to bring Dunn home.
Defensively, the Bears turned in two double plays.
Buday went 2-for-3 with a walk and Polk went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Minarovic also went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI while Miller finished 1-for-2 with three RBI and two runs scored as well as two walks.
Will Henkel picked up the win on the mound to improved to 3-1 on the season. He pitched three innings with just one hit, two strikeouts and two walks.
Miles Quemuel-Labrador came on for three innings of relief with no hits and one strikeout while
Bo Ziegler closed out the game with one inning pitched with one hit.
Game 2: WashU 11, Chicago 1 (7 innings)
The Bears got on the board in the bottom of the third inning, starting with a single from Buday up the middle to lead things off. Buday stole second and Pellegrino drew a walk before both runners advanced on a wild pitch.
Mazone hit a sacrifice fly to center scoring Buday for a 1-0 lead. Miller followed with a single to right field, scoring Pellegrino to give the Bears a 2-0 advantage.
With two outs, Polk drew a walk, stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball. Bernhard also drew a walk and Zachery reached base on an error by right field, scoring Polk and Bernhard for the 4-0 WashU lead.
The Bears notched another run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Buday hit a one-out triple to right center and scored on a sacrifice fly from Pellegrino to extend WashU's lead to 5-0.
Chicago scored its first run of the day in the top of the fifth inning. Braden Jirovec hit a one-out single to right center and advanced on a Jackson Slipock ground out. Jirovec scored on a Brady Miller single up the middle to make it a 5-1 game.
WashU tacked on another two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Miller hit a lead-off single to center and scored on a Bernhard double to right center. With two outs, Braemer singled through the right side to bring home Bernhard for a 7-1 Bears' lead.
The Bears posted another four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to end the game early.
Magnus Dunn had a lead-off single to second and advanced a base on a balk. Bernhard scored Dunn with a double to center field to make it 8-1 for the Bears. Malis singled to left field to put runners on the corners and Bernhard scored on a Braemer single to third.
Minarovic drew a walk to load the bases and Malis went on to score on a Buday ground out to second. Pellegrino drove in the final run of the game, sending a single through the right side to bring home Braemer.
Buday finished 3-for-5 with one RBI and two runs scored while Miller went 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored. Bernhard went 3-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBI and Braemer finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run scored.
Matt Lopes notched his third win of the season with five innings pitched, striking out nine with four hits and one earned run.
The Bears wrap up the series against Chicago tomorrow with a single game at 12 p.m.
