This weekend, in their final regular season series at home, the Washington University baseball team sent off their seniors on a positive note, picking up four wins in their series against the Emory University Eagles and advancing to 26-5-1 on the season. In the University Athletic Association title-decider, the Bears clinched the UAA Championship for the eighth time in program history.

The Red and Green set the tone for the weekend on Friday with a big win in their first game. The Bears took the lead in the first inning after freshman Caleb Durbin scored on a passed ball. Then, a couple of batters later, freshman Jackson Gray singled, scoring freshman Brendan Hall and putting the Bears up 2-0 early. The Bears extended their lead in the second, as junior John Brinkman’s groundout to second base allowed sophomore Sean Robinson to run home. Hall then chalked up a run batted in (RBI) of his own, sending a laser up the middle of the field. Durbin pounced on the opportunity, running home to give the Bears a 4-0 lead. The Bears never looked back, as they chalked up four more runs and held the Eagles to just one, with senior John Howard tossing seven scoreless innings for his eighth win of the season. The Bears won in a rout, 8-1.

The baseball team celebrates a score against New York University.

Saturday’s first game was a more low-scoring affair. As in Friday’s game, the Bears started off the scoring early as Brinkman hit an RBI double to right-center field, allowing Durbin to score the game’s first run. Emory hit back in the second inning, however, as Jack Rubenstein capitalized on a Bears throwing error to knot the scores up at one a piece. After three scoreless innings from both teams, the Bears regained the lead in the sixth. This time, it was an error from Emory that led to a score, as Brinkman ran home following a wild pitch. Starting pitcher sophomore Ryan Loutos had a bounce-back start after he struggled last weekend against NYU, holding the Eagles to one run over six and a third innings.

In the eighth, Emory tied the game again, with Rubenstein cracking an RBI single to left center field, tying the score at 2-2 heading into the bottom of the eighth. With the game on the line, the Bears’ high-powered offense came through once again: Gray singled to drive in Brinkman for the go-ahead score. Brinkman secured three quick outs from Emory in the ninth to end the tightly-contested game as Wash. U. walked away the winner, 3-2.

Saturday’s second game saw another rout by the Bears, as a big fourth inning put them out of Emory’s reach. The Bears took the lead in the first, thanks to a two-run homer from Brinkman. Then in the fourth, the Bears capitalized on a flurry of errors from Emory. First, junior Thomas Gardner hit an RBI single. Then, Gardner scored on a throwing error from the Emory third baseman. Finally, Durbin, after hitting an RBI double, found his way home on a wild pitch. Like Loutos in the early game, starting pitcher junior Matt Ashbaugh recovered from a rough outing last weekend by allowing just two runs in six-plus innings, and freshman Matt Lopes threw three scoreless to seal the deal for the Bears, 7-2.

Sunday’s game was a bittersweet one for the Bears. While the Bears completed their sweep, they took time before the game to acknowledge their two seniors: John Howard and Evan Nagel. The game started out with Emory taking the lead off a fielding error. However, Wash. U. took the lead in the bottom of the first, as Brinkman hit yet another RBI single to left field (he had eight on the weekend), allowing Nagel and Durbin to score. After a scoreless second inning, Emory regained the lead in the third with an RBI from Rubenstein. Two RBIs in the sixth from Robinson and Durbin put the Bears up 4-2, as a committee of Bears—sophomores Dominick DiCosimo, Tim Tague, Troy Bauer and Mitchell Black—held the Eagles in check. While Emory came to within one run after a home run from Bubby Terp in the top of the eighth, the Bears chalked up another run in the bottom of the eighth to seal the win, 5-3. The win was the 500th of head coach Pat Bloom’s career.

With four huge wins this weekend, the Bears improved to 12-2 in UAA play. Next weekend, the Bears will match up against Webster, Greenville and Wheaton to close out their season as they continue their preparation for postseason play.