ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Playing in its second doubleheader in as many days, the RV Washington University in St. Louis baseball team picked up its second two-game split in as many days against RV Gustavus Adolphus on Sunday at Kelly Field at Irv Utz Stadium.

WashU narrowly came back in the bottom of the ninth before falling 9-8. In game two, the Bears used a pair of five-run innings to take a commanding lead that they did not relinquish to earn the series split, 10-2.

Game 1: GAC 9, WashU 8
After a scoreless first, the Bears took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Junior Shane Pellegrino led off with a walk and reached second on a sacrifice bunt from graduate Josh Erpenbeck. A wild pitch allowed him to reach third before a single to second base from sophomore Carson Cleage allowed him to score.

Graduate Colter Couillard-Rodak led off the bottom of the third with a single to center and, like Pellegrino, reached second on a sacrifice bunt from senior Brandon Buday. A deep single from Pellegrino to right-center enabled Couillard-Rodak to race around and give the Bears a 2-0 lead after three innings.

The Gusties tied the game up with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth, but the Bears responded immediately, retaking the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Cleage led off with a walk and reached second on a groundout. A single to left from Couillard-Rodak put runners on the corners. Buday followed with a walk to load the bases with just one out. First-year Ryan Soong was hit by a pitch that pushed all runners up a base and scoring Cleage. A shallow single from graduate Noah Reichman to right-center once again forced all runners up a base and this time scored Couillard-Rodak. A ground ball to second base from Pellegrino got Reichman out at the base but put runners on the corners after Buday scored, giving WashU the 5-2 lead.

Gustavus Adolphus tied the game up one more time, 5-5, in the top of the sixth with a trio of runs off of three hits and a WashU error. In the bottom half of the inning, Buday led off with a single before coming around and scoring off a passed ball, an out thrown to first, and a single from Reichman through the right side, giving the Bears their last lead at 6-5.

All the runs that the Gusties would need to get the win came in the top of the seventh with four runs with two outs. A double, walk, hit by pitch, double, and single allowed four runs to score as GAC took the 9-6 lead.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Bears got hits from Reichman, Erpenbeck, and Cleage while scoring both Reichman and Pellegrino, who had reached on a hit by pitch, to pull within one run going into the ninth.

It was three-up, three-down in the top half of the inning before WashU would load the bases with just one out. The Gusties, however, were able to get a strikeout and a groundout to take game one, 9-8.

Reichman and Cleage both went three for five in the game with two RBIs and a run scored.

Senior Sebastian Guzman took the loss in relief pitching the final four innings with six strikeouts, two walks, and four runs scored against.

Game 2: WashU 10, GAC 2
This time it was Gustavus Adolphus who got on the board first with a solo home run in the top of the third inning. The Gusties, however, would not score again until the eighth inning.

In the Bears' half of the third, graduate Will Yarbro led off with a double before reaching third on a groundout by first-year Kevin Stephens to the catcher. Couillard-Rodak followed with a walk. With two outs, Couillard-Rodak stole second which allowed Reichman to follow with a single to left that scored both Yarbro and Couillard-Rodak giving WashU a 2-1 lead.

Pellegrino followed suit with a double down the left field line and took third when the Gusties threw the ball home in an attempt to tag out Reichman who scored from first. A wild pitch later and the Bears were up 4-1. Senior Braden Mazone then was hit by a pitch and reached second on a single by first-year Cooper Greene up the middle. Both base runners advanced a base on a wild pitch. Cleage patiently earned a walk and Yarbro took his cue and collected an RBI on a bases loaded walk that scored Mazone, increasing the Bears' lead to 5-1.

With no lead safe, Mazone led off the bottom of the fifth with a double to center. After Greene struck out, Cleage singled through the left side while Mazone took third. Yarbro would reach first on a fielding error by the Gusties that saw Mazone go home and score. A balk by the Gustavus Adolphus pitcher put runners on second and third with just one out. A groundout by Stephens scored Cleage from third.

Later, Yarbro scored on a Soong single to the shortstop and both Soong and Couillard-Rodak, who walked earlier, scored on a single to second base by Pellegrino, extending the WashU lead to 10-1.

In the top of the eighth, the Gusties used a walk and a double to put runners in scoring position with one out. A groundout to short scored one run, but it was not enough as the Bears held them scoreless in the ninth to earn the doubleheader and series split with the 10-2, game two win.

The Bears totaled 26 hits on the day, evenly split 13 between the two games. In game two eight different Bears collected a hit, led by Pellegrino's three-for-five performance. He also tallied three RBIs and had a run scored. Reichman, Mazone, and Greene also had a multi-hit game two.

Sophomore Bo Ziegler picked up his first win of the season pitching 2.2 innings in relief. He finished with two strikeouts and two walks.

WashU will play its final midweek contest on Wednesday, March 19 when they welcome cross-city opponent Webster to Kelly Field. First pitch with the Gorloks is scheduled for 2 p.m.