ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Sometimes it can be hard to win both ends of a doubleheader. It can be even harder to win a pair of doubleheaders against the same team on back-to-back days, but that is what the No. 12 Washington University in St. Louis baseball team did over the weekend with Sunday's doubleheader sweep of (RV) Gustavus Adolphus at Kelly Field.

WashU took the first game on Sunday, 6-2, before completing the four-game series sweep with an 11-4 win in game two.

With the wins, WashU improves to 15-3 on the season while the Gusties fall to 7-7.

WashU 6, GAC 2
It did not take long for the Bears to get on the board as they took the lead in the bottom of the first. First-year Chance Cromer led off with a double through the left side and quickly scored on the next batter when sophomore Ryan Soong singled to center field, putting WashU ahead 1-0.

It was in the third inning that the Bears secured the game-winning run when they added two to the board. With one out, Cromer walked and reached second when Soong was hit by a pitch. Junior Anthony Equale followed with a double to left center that scored Cromer and advanced Soong to third. A groundout by first-year Jacob Witte allowed Soong to score, putting the Bears ahead 3-0.

The Gusties answered with a pair of runs of their own in the top of the fourth. With one out, Charles Gearen hit a home run over the fence in left field to cut the lead down to 3-1. A double two batters later by Andrew Glovich would come around and score on a single to right, trimming the lead down to just one run, 3-2.

The score would stay that way until the bottom of the eighth inning when WashU doubled its run total with one swing of the bat. With two outs, senior Shane Pellegrino walked and reached third when sophomore Josh Erpenbeck singled to left center. Sophomore Kevin Stephens followed and launched the first pitch he saw over the fence in left field that nearly cleared Forsyth Ave. to give the Bears a 6-2 lead.

GAC singled with its first two batters in the top of the ninth, but a strikeout and two popups later, WashU took game one, 6-2.

Cromer, Soong, and first-year Eli Sitzer each had a pair of hits for the Bears as WashU finished with nine as a team. Stephens' home run was the second of his career as he finished with three RBIs.

Graduate Chase Brickley picked up his sixth win of the season in as many appearances as he's made. He pitched the first 7.0 innings, finishing with eight strikeouts and two runs allowed. His 1.62 ERA leads the UAA for pitchers over 20 innings of work, while his six wins are the most by any UAA pitcher.

WashU 11, GAC 4
Once again WashU struck for a run in the bottom of the first to jump out to the lead. Cromer led off with a single while Soong was hit by a pitch. A sacrifice bunt by Equale put the runners on second and third. Witte was hit by a pitch to load the bases before a sacrifice fly by sophomore Miles Birke allowed Cromer to score.

Pellegrino led off with a double down the left field line to start the second inning and was followed by a bunt single by sophomore Cooper Greene that allowed Pellegrino to take third. Before the first pitch to Stephens, Greene attempted to steal second and was tagged out, but the throw allowed Pellegrino to come in and score for the 2-0 lead.

The Gusties cut the lead in half with a solo home run from Joe Burns to lead off the fourth inning.

The Bears would begin to build back their lead with three runs in each of the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings.

In the fifth, with one out, WashU saw the bases loaded on 14 pitches (12 balls, two strikes). Equale then drew another walk on a full count to bring in the first run of the inning. Witte then followed with a single down the right-field line that advanced all runners, including Cromer from third to home. A wild pitch later and all runners advanced a base with Soong scoring, giving the Bears a 5-1 lead.

After a sacrifice fly by GAC in the top of the sixth trimmed the lead down to three, 5-2, WashU used just two hits to score three more runs. Pellegrino led off with a triple, while both Stephens and senior Connor Lindsey walked to load the bases. Another Gusties wild pitch allowed all runners to advance and scored Pellegrino. After a flyout to left field, a second wild pitch of the inning allowed Stephens to take third and Lindsey to score, putting the Bears in front, 7-2. Soong would then hit a single to center for an RBI as Stephens scored with WashU leading 8-2 after six complete.

Another sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh earned GAC a run back, but the Bears once again answered with three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Witte was first up and was hit by a pitch before a single from Birke put Witte on second. A flyout by Sitzer allowed Witte to take third before a double from Pellegrino on the first pitch he saw scored Witte and pushed Birke to third. A groundout by Lindsey directly to first base allowed Birke to score and Pellegrino to reach third. A fourth wild pitch by the Gusties saw Pellegrino complete his trip around the bases with WashU now leading 11-3.

GAC would score one final run in the top of eighth, but two strikeouts and a groundout in the top of the ninth secured the 11-4 win for the Bears.

Despite tallying few hits in game two, the Bears scored 10+ runs for the ninth time this season.

Pellegrino finished the day a home run short of the cycle as he went 3-for-4 at the plate with his triple and two doubles in the final game of the series. He scored three runs while collecting one RBI.

Senior Miles Quemuel-Labrador picked up his second win of the season in relief, pitching the final 1.1 innings and striking out three.

WashU will play its final non-conference game of the regular season on Tuesday, Mar. 24, when it hosts the Blue Jays of Westminster (Mo.) in a single game. First pitch from Kelly Field is scheduled for 2 p.m.


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