WashU Takes Two Against Chicago
The Washington University in St. Louis baseball team swept the University of Chicago on Saturday with two seven-inning wins over the Maroons. The Bears improve to 8-3 on the season.
Game 1: WashU 15, Chicago 0 (7 innings)
The Bears came out firing on all cylinders to score six runs in the bottom of the first inning. Brandon Buday led off with a single to third and Shane Pellegrino followed with a single up the middle. With one out, Clayton Miller drilled a double to right field, scoring both Buday and Pellegrino for a 2-0 lead.
Sam Polk singled up the middle to put runners on the corners and then stole second. Kaden Bernhard doubled to right, scoring Miller and Polk for a 4-0 edge. Justin Zachery followed with a double down the right field line to score Bernhard and Dax Braemer was hit by a pitch.
Evan Minarovic reached on a fielder's choice and Zachery headed to third, followed by a Buday walk to load the bases. Pellegrino was then walked, scoring Zachery for the 6-0 lead.
WashU added to its lead in the bottom of the third inning as Minarovic drilled a solo home run over the center field fence to put the Bears ahead 7-0. Pellegrino drew a walk before Mazone hit the second homer of the inning, over the right field fence, to give the Bears a 9-0 lead. Miller followed the homer with a walk and then stole second before Polk sent a double down the right field line to score Miller for a 10-0 advantage.
The Bears continued their offensive dominance in the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out, Braemer was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a wild pitch. Minarovic singled through the left side to bring in Braemer.
Buday doubled down the right field line and Pellegrino was hit by a pitch to load the bases, prompting a Chicago pitching change. Mazone drew a walk to score Minarovic and Miller reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Buday for a 13-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, Bernhard led off with a double down the left field line and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Braemer hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Bernhard for a 14-0 Bears' lead.
WashU tacked on another run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Magnus Dunn led off with a double to left and Zac Malis singled up the middle to bring Dunn home.
Defensively, the Bears turned in two double plays.
Buday went 2-for-3 with a walk and Polk went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Minarovic also went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI while Miller finished 1-for-2 with three RBI and two runs scored as well as two walks.
Will Henkel picked up the win on the mound to improved to 3-1 on the season. He pitched three innings with just one hit, two strikeouts and two walks. Miles Quemuel-Labrador came on for three innings of relief with no hits and one strikeout while Bo Ziegler closed out the game with one inning pitched with one hit.
Game 2: WashU 11, Chicago 1 (7 innings)
The Bears got on the board in the bottom of the third inning, starting with a single from Buday up the middle to lead things off. Buday stole second and Pellegrino drew a walk before both runners advanced on a wild pitch.
Mazone hit a sacrifice fly to center scoring Buday for a 1-0 lead. Miller followed with a single to right field, scoring Pellegrino to give the Bears a 2-0 advantage.
With two outs, Polk drew a walk, stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball. Bernhard also drew a walk and Zachery reached base on an error by right field, scoring Polk and Bernhard for the 4-0 WashU lead.
The Bears notched another run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Buday hit a one-out triple to right center and scored on a sacrifice fly from Pellegrino to extend WashU's lead to 5-0.
Chicago scored its first run of the day in the top of the fifth inning. Braden Jirovec hit a one-out single to right center and advanced on a Jackson Slipock ground out. Jirovec scored on a Brady Miller single up the middle to make it a 5-1 game.
WashU tacked on another two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Miller hit a lead-off single to center and scored on a Bernhard double to right center. With two outs, Braemer singled through the right side to bring home Bernhard for a 7-1 Bears' lead.
The Bears posted another four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to end the game early. Magnus Dunn had a lead-off single to second and advanced a base on a balk. Bernhard scored Dunn with a double to center field to make it 8-1 for the Bears. Malis singled to left field to put runners on the corners and Bernhard scored on a Braemer single to third.
Minarovic drew a walk to load the bases and Malis went on to score on a Buday ground out to second. Pellegrino drove in the final run of the game, sending a single through the right side to bring home Braemer.
Buday finished 3-for-5 with one RBI and two runs scored while Miller went 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored. Bernhard went 3-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBI and Braemer finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run scored.
Matt Lopes notched his third win of the season with five innings pitched, striking out nine with four hits and one earned run.