The Washington University baseball team (27-6) ended its 11-game winning streak on Saturday as the squad faced off against DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., losing both games of the doubleheader, 3-0 and 8-2, respectively.

The usual offensive production from the Bears was lacking against DePauw, who limited the team to just two hits in the first game. It wasn’t until the top of the fourth that the Bears made solid contact with the ball. Sophomore Andy Shields drilled a double off the right-field wall with two outs; senior Dan Rieck followed up with a walk, as did junior Alan Germano to load the bases. With the bases loaded, however, senior leftfielder Joel Farrell could not convert and the Bears ended the inning with three men left on base. Senior Jason Ortwerth earned his first loss of the season (4-1) after pitching all six innings in the loss, allowing just four hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

In game two, DePauw took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first before the Red and Green responded with two runs of its own in the top of the second. With one out, Shields knocked a double down the left field line, as Rieck followed with a base hit. Germano lined a double to center field to score Shields and Rieck to tie the game at two.

It wasn’t enough for the squad, though, as DePauw regained control of the game by scoring three runs in the bottom of the fourth due to sloppy defense. DePauw got only two hits in the inning, but two errors, a wild pitch, and a hits batsmen all added to three runs for DePauw, giving them a 5-2 advantage.

Sophomore Brent Buffa made his sixth start on the mound, before being pulled in the fourth inning. In three-plus innings pitched, Buffa (8-1) allowed five runs with two strikeouts and a walk. Rieck highlighted the Bears’ offensive effort with a two-for-three performance at the plate with one run scored.

With six games left in the regular season, the Bears are just three wins away from matching the team’s single-season win record, which was set in 2002 with a final record of 30-10. Many key members of the team have added to the Bears’ success this season.

Junior third baseman Sam Hahn is leading the squad in batting with a .400 batting average, after starting 31 games for the Bears. Hahn has also hit 12 doubles, which places him in a tie for the most with Rieck, who is also having a stellar season at the plate. Rieck, batting .364, leads the team in homeruns (eight), RBIs (43), and slugging percentage (.709). Junior Ryan Corning is second on the team with a .374 batting average, and after being hit by pitches 14 times this season, Corning has capitalized on his team-leading .497 on base percentage by converting 13 of 15 steal attempts.

On the mound, the Bears have been a dominating force as well. Buffa leads the team in wins with eight, but sophomore Dan McPheeters, a newcomer to Bears’ lineup this season, is 6-1 with a 2.42 ERA in nine appearances and 48.1 innings pitched, only a tenth of an inning behind team-leader Ortwerth (48.2). Buffa and McPheeters are tied for the most strikeouts on the team with 33 each.

McPheeters is very enthusiastic about the success of this year’s squad.

“We really have a great team, and up until this weekend we’ve done everything right,” says McPheeters. “We’re hitting well, scoring about nine runs a game and the pitching staff has been pretty much as good as anyone could be. It’s pretty rare for a team to be doing as well as we have, but we’re clicking and doing what needs to be done. When one side of the lineup is lacking, the other side steps up and that equates to success, which we hope will continue.”

The University returns to action Tuesday, April 19 at Illinois Wesleyan University. Game time is slated for 5:30 p.m. in Bloomington, Ill.

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