ST. LOUIS, Mo. – In the highest-scoring game in the weekend series, the No. 10 Washington University in St. Louis baseball team used late-inning heroics to complete a comeback with a walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th inning to earn a series split with Chicago on Sunday afternoon.
WashU improves to 18-5, 2-2 in the UAA, while Chicago falls to 9-10, 2-2 in the UAA.
The Maroons jumped on the board early with three runs in the top of the first. After the first two batters were hit, a single would load the bases. Then with one out, another single to left center pushed everyone around, scoring the game's first run. Two batters later, a hard-hit single up the middle scored two more runs as Chicago took a 3-0 lead.
WashU began to trim the lead with a solo home run by sophomore
Ryan Soong, his second home run (this one over the fence) in as many games.
Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the second, graduate student
Josh Erpenbeck hit a two-out double to left center and reached third on a wild pitch. He was followed by a double from first-year
Chance Cromer that bounced over the fence for a ground-rule two-base hit. However, it did score Erpenbeck. Soong continued the hitting for the Bears with a single to center that scored Cromer, tying the game at 3-3.
Chicago then once again scored three runs in an inning with a trio of scores in the top of the third. Back-to-back doubles to start scored one run before a single and a stolen base put runners on second and third. A wild pitch later scored a run, and a groundout to the shortstop after scored the third run as the Maroons built their lead back up to three, 6-3.
The lead became four with a solo run in the top of the fifth for Chicago.
However, a big bottom of the frame for WashU saw the Bears take their first lead of the contest. Soong led off with a walk and would steal both second and third. After first-year
Jacob Witte doubled down the right field line, Soong scored. Junior
Anthony Equale was next with the second walk of the inning before back-to-back triples by sophomore
Kevin Stephens and senior
Shane Pellegrino scored three more runs total, tying the game at 7-7. Pellegrino would come in and score on a fielding error by the first baseman while trying to get sophomore
Miles Birke's batted ball.
For the third time in the contest, the Maroons scored three runs in the top of the seventh to regain the lead. After a one-out single followed by a walk, Erik Rindner hit a three-run home run over the fence in left field to give Chicago a 10-8 lead.
WashU was able to get two of the runs back in the bottom of the eighth inning as Birke walked and Cromer singled through the right side. Another single by Soong would push Cromer to third and score Birke. A wild pitch later and the game was tied at 10-10, and the teams went to extra innings.
Chicago was sat down in order in the top of the 10th before the Bears picked up a pair of two-out singles, but a groundout ended the scoring chance.
Once again the Maroons went three-up, three-down in the top of the 11th.
With one out in the bottom of the 11th, Equale was hit by a pitch. A single by Stephens would put Equale on second with one out. After the Maroons changed pitchers, Pellegrino would single up the middle as Equale raced around the bases and dove for home plate safely to score the walk-off, game-winning run for the Bears, 11-10.
This was the second extra-innings contest for WashU this season, as they defeated Coe earlier 3-2, also in 11 innings.
Soong finished the day going 4-for-5 at the plate with three RBIs, two runs scored and a walk. Both Stephens and Pellegrino hit triples, while Cromer, Witte and Erpenbeck each tallied a double in the contest.
Both teams used six pitchers each, as first-year
Dylan Belyea (1-0) pitched the final 3.2 innings, striking out four, walking just one and not allowing a hit to secure the first win of his career.
WashU will next host a four-game UAA series next weekend on Apr. 3-5 against the Violets of New York University. The first contest will be a single game on Friday, Apr. 3 at 3 p.m. The teams will then play a doubleheader on Saturday, Apr. 4 before wrapping up with a single game on Sunday, Apr. 5 at 11 a.m.
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