CLEVELAND, Ohio – The No. 14 Washington University in St. Louis baseball team closed out the regular season on Sunday, dropping both ends of a doubleheader to Case Western Reserve at Nobby's Ballpark in Cleveland. Originally scheduled to be a single game on Sunday, games were updated due to weather on Friday as the Spartans earned a split of the series with a 6-5 win in 10 innings in game one before a 6-4 win in game two.

CWRU 6, WashU 5
The Spartans got on the board first in the bottom of the fourth inning. With two outs, CWRU picked up a walk that would come around and score after a WashU error and a single to right field.

The Bears answered immediately in the top of fifth with four runs. Sophomore Ryan Soong led off with a double and junior Anthony Equale backed him up with a triple to score Soong and tie the game at 1-1. Senior Shane Pellegrino followed with a double down the left field line to score Equale and give the Bears the lead, 2-1.

With two outs and a runner on third, sophomore Kevin Stephens singled through the right side to score Pellegrino. Sophomore Miles Birke was next with his own single to the right side that scored Stephens, a run that put WashU up 4-1 after four.

The sixth inning saw CWRU pull within two after a double to right that came around and scored on a two-out single down the left field line.

But once again the Bears answered right away, getting the run back in the top of the seventh. First-year Jacob Witte led off with a double to left before sophomore Cooper Greene sacrifice bunted him to second. A single up the middle by Stephens allowed Witte to score and put WashU back up 5-2.

This time the Spartans got their own answer immediately with a pair of runs to begin their comeback. A leadoff walk would score on a double to right center. The runner on second advanced to third on a flyout to right before scoring on a fielder's choice, as CWRU pulled within one, 5-4.

The home team was able to knock in one run in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings. A leadoff double was followed by a single that tied the game at 5-5 with no outs and a runner on first. After a flyout, a wild pitch, and an intentional walk, the bases were loaded with one out. WashU was able to induce a lineout double play to end the inning.

A leadoff single in the bottom of the 10th eventually came around and scored after a sacrifice bunt and a single to left as the Spartans completed the comeback for the win.

Pellegrino, Witte, Stephens, and Birke each had a multi-hit game with Stephens also having a multi-RBI contest.

Junior Parker Guthrie (4-2) took the loss in relief with the final 1.1 innings of work.

CWRU 6, WashU 4
In the final game of the series, the Spartans got on the board first with single runs in both the first and second innings.

With one out in the first inning, back-to-back singles put runners on the corners. A fielder's choice out to third base allowed a run to score and give CWRU a 1-0 lead. A Bears' fielding error allowed the leadoff batter in the second to reach base. After stealing both second and third, the run would score on a groundout, putting the Spartans in front 2-0.

WashU got one of the runs back in the third with sophomore Will Taigen earning a one-out walk. A single to left by first-year Chance Cromer and a walk to Soong would load the bases with just one out. Equale followed with a hit ball to left field that allowed Taigen to score, but also had a force out at third base behind him.

Leading 2-1, CWRU got its final four runs of the contest in the bottom of the third inning. The Spartans used three hits, all singles, along with another WashU error to score their four runs, taking a 6-1 lead.

A quiet fourth and fifth inning led to the Bears scoring twice in the top of the sixth. First-year Eli Sitzer got things started with a walk before a single by Taigen to deep left center allowed Sitzer to race home and score. After Taigen reached third on a fielder's choice, Equale would eventually hit a single to right, scoring Taigen and cutting the Spartan lead down to 6-3.

WashU picked up its final run in the top of the ninth with Pellegrino hitting a one-out single to left. Then with two outs, senior Connor Lindsey hit a single through the left side that allowed Pellegrino to reach third. With a single to third on the first pitch he saw, Stephens scored Pellegrino to trim the lead down to two. CWRU then induced a groundout to shortstop, who threw to second for the final out.

Lindsey led the way for WashU in game two, going 3-for-4 at the plate. Taigen went 2-for-2 at the plate with a pair of walks, two runs scored, and an RBI.

Junior Levi Gingerich (2-2) took the loss, pitching the first 2.2 innings of work, striking out three.

WashU will now await their NCAA Championship fate. The team selections will be announced on May 11 at 12 p.m. ET.
 
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