ST. LOUIS, Mo. – With a schedule change due to forecasted inclement weather on Saturday morning, the No. 14 Washington University in St. Louis baseball team moved up their UAA doubleheader day with visiting NYU to Friday. The Bears and Violets split the two games at Kelly Field to open the four-game series, with NYU taking game one and the Bears being victorious in game two.
NYU 11, WashU 5
It initially looked like it would be a pitchers' duel with two scoreless innings to start game one of the doubleheader.
However, the Violets broke open the game in the top of the third with a grand slam after loading the bases to take an immediate 4-0 lead.
NYU added another home run in the top of the fifth, this time a solo shot over right center.
The Violets then took a 9-0 lead over WashU in the top of the seventh as they led off with three straight walks. After a strikeout and a fielder's choice out at home, NYU was able to knock three singles and a walk to score their four runs in their half of the inning.
In the bottom of the inning, senior
Shane Pellegrino led off with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a wild pitch. A passed ball allowed Pellegrino to take third before senior
Connor Lindsey hit a sacrifice fly to left center that scored Pellegrino and put the Bears on the scoreboard.
For the third time in the contest, the Violets hit a home run in the top of the eighth inning, this time a two-run blast that put the visitors ahead by 10, 11-1.
Preventing a run rule, WashU saw sophomore
Ryan Soong lead off the bottom of the frame with a single to right field before NYU got two outs. A stolen base and wild pitch later, Soong was on third. A bloop single by junior
Anthony Equale that fell between several Violets never trickled foul and allowed Soong to score, cutting the lead down to 11-2.
Pellegrino led off the ninth with a lineout before sophomore
Miles Birke earned a four-pitch walk. Sophomore
Tyler Phillips would come in for Birke on the bases and immediately stole second. Lindsey would draw a walk. A groundout to first saw both Phillips and Lindsey reach third and second before Soong launched a ball over the fence in left center for a three-run blast, trimming the lead down to 11-5. However, NYU was able to get a strikeout before any more runs scored to claim game one, 11-5.
Soong had three of the five WashU hits in the contest with his home run and two singles. He finished with three RBIs and two runs scored.
Junior
Townsend Stevenson (1-2) took the loss, pitching the first 6.0 innings. He tallied five strikeouts and five walks.
WashU 12, NYU 1 (7 inn.)
The bats came alive for the Bears in game two as WashU collected 12 runs on 12 hits to earn the doubleheader split in just seven innings.
After another scoreless first two innings, this time it was the Bears who got on the board first with four runs in the bottom of the third. First-year
Eli Sitzer led off the inning by reaching on a throwing error that allowed him to make it all the way to third. Another Violet throwing error saw sophomore
Kevin Stephens reach first and Sitzer score. Then with one out, Pellegrino hit a deep home run over the fence in left field that landed on Forsyth, scoring both him and Stephens, as WashU led 3-0.
After Soong singled to left and stole second, sophomore
Cooper Greene hit a single through the right side that allowed a speedy Soong to race around and score from second to put the Bears ahead 4-0.
The top of the fifth saw NYU use a double, single, and hit batter to load the bases. A sacrifice fly to center scored the lead runner, and as the runner that started the at-bat at second attempted to score, he was run down by a throw from Stephens in center to Equale at third and tagged near home plate.
The Bears got the one run back and added one more in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Pellegrino singled to third and was followed by a single by Soong to put runners on first and second. A third-straight hit for WashU, this time a ground-rule double down the left field line, allowed Pellegrino to score. Then with two out, Soong scored on a wild pitch that put the Bears ahead 6-1.
WashU would seal the win in the bottom of the sixth and top of the seventh. Birke and Sitzer led off with back-to-back walks. A bunt back to the pitcher saw the first baseman run in and attempt to throw out Stephens going to first, but the ball didn't get near the base until Stephens was already safe. However, the throw was errant, over the head of the second baseman covering, which allowed him to take second and Birke to score while Sitzer took third.
Another ground-rule double down the right field line by Cromer saw him be allowed to take third while both Stephens and Sitzer scored as the Bears led 9-1. A single by Pellegrino would score Cromer before Soong would hit his second home run of the day, this one a two-run shot over the fence in left center that saw WashU go up 12-1.
Senior
Isaac Zhang (3-0) pitched a complete game after striking out the first two batters of the seventh and inducing a groundout to end the game. He finished with eight strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work while walking just one.
Soong went 4-for-4 in game two with three runs scored and two RBIs. Greene was just a home run short of the cycle as he went 3-for-4 at the plate with a single, double, and triple with two RBIs. Pellegrino also went 3-for-4 with a home run and two singles, three runs scored, and three RBIs.
WashU and NYU will play just a single game on Saturday, Apr. 4. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Kelly Field.
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