ST. LOUIS, Mo. – After a hot start to the season over the weekend, the Washington University in St. Louis baseball team picked up a 12-2 win in seven innings over visiting Fontbonne in midweek action at Kelly Field at Irv Utz Stadium on Wednesday.
Senior Brandon Buday led off for the Bears and finished going 4-for-5 from the plate with a triple, three runs scored and a pair of RBIs.
Graduate Noah Reichman, graduate Colter Couillard-Rodak, and senior Braden Mazone all finished with two hits in the contest.
With Fontbonne closing at the end of the semester, the Bears will close the series with a 13-2 record all-time against the Griffins.
Buday started off the bottom of the first with a single up the middle. After he reached second on a ground out to the third baseman, he was able to steal third with just one out. On a short, played ball to second base, Buday was able to come and score to give WashU a 1-0 lead.
With two outs and a 1-2 count, Reichman launched a ball over 15 ft above the fence in left field for a solo home run, giving WashU a 2-0 advantage. Going back to his final at bat over the weekend, he has hit a home run on two consecutive at bats.
In the bottom of the second, junior Connor Lindsey started off with a walk before advancing to third on a hard hit ball through the right side into right field by graduate Will Yarbro. A single to center field by sophomore Anthony Equale allowed Lindsey to come in to score.
A passed ball allowed both Yarbro and Equale to reach third and second before a walk by first-year Will Taigen loaded the bases with no outs. A fielding error on the second baseman and a hit batter allowed two more runs to cross as the Bears went up 5-0.
A wild pitch to Reichman allowed Taigen to score. A few pitches later, Reichman hit a deep, sacrifice fly to center field that allowed Buday to score from third, increasing the Bears' lead to 7-0. WashU was not done as a single through the right side by Mazone allowed junior Shane Pellegrino to score from second as the Bears led 8-0 going into the third inning.
With two outs in the bottom of the third, Taigen singled to center and then stole second base. Buday then hit his third triple in as many games that scored Taigen and gave the Bears a 9-0 lead after three complete inning.
It wasn't until the top of the sixth before the Griffins were able to get on the board with a pair of runs, cutting the WashU lead down to 9-2.
The Bears answered right back in the bottom of the frame. With one out, Mazone took the first pitch he saw through the right side for a single. Lindsey followed him to the plate and took the first pitch he saw deep to left center that reached the fence. It allowed Mazone to race around and get one of the runs back for the Bears, 10-2.
With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Buday singled up the middle, reached second on a wild pitch and stole third. He came in and scored on a single from Pellegrino through the left side. Couillard-Rodak followed Pellegrino with a single through the right side to put runners on first and second. A shallow single by Reichman to center loaded the bases for Mazone.
He was able to hit a sacrifice fly to deep center field that allowed Pellegrino to come in from third and end the game with the 10-run rule, 12-2.
WashU will be back on the field on Saturday, March 1 to begin a three-game series with Illinois Wesleyan. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. before wrapping up the series with a single game on Sunday, March 2 at 12 p.m.
