Pam BuzzettaThe Washington University baseball team dropped two out of three games this weekend, including a hard-fought 2-1 defeat on the road to Illinois Wesleyan.
The Bears have had trouble beating Illinois Wesleyan in the past and looked poised to finally break through in the Apr. 17 contest. With the score tied 1-1 heading into the ninth inning, Bears ace Damien Janet was on the hill trying to finish a complete game.
In contrast, Illinois Wesleyan was using an intriguing strategy with their pitchers. Rob Blumberg, who came in to pitch the ninth inning, was the ninth pitcher that the Titans used during the game. Seven of them pitched exactly one inning apiece; starter Rich Berthold went two innings, while reliever Pat Poston failed to record an out. In addition, only three of the Wesleyan pitchers faced more than three batters.
Blumberg retired the side against the Bears in the ninth and Janet came on to try to send the game into extra innings. The first two batters hit into outs and with two outs and no runners on base, Janet tried to finish off Jeremy Hunt.
Hunt managed to draw a walk, however, and put himself in scoring position by staealing second base. Backup shortstop Pat Cinquegrani, who had not faced Janet all day, laced an RBI single and the Bears were dealt a stunning loss. Wesleyan’s unorthodox pitching strategy worked, as the Bears were held to just one run on five hits and three walks.
On Apr. 20, the Bears traveled to DePauw University for a doubleheader. In the first game, Steve Schmidt continued his impressive showing on the mound by tossing a complete game against the Tigers en route to a 9-1 victory. He allowed just six hits and did not walk a single batter while striking out four. Schmidt received help at the plate from first baseman Ryan Argo, who contributed four hits. Right fielder Joe Kelly, who went 2-for-2, hit his fourth home run of the season and was also hit by two pitches.
The nightcap did not go quite as well for the Bears, as the pitching staff reverted to the inconsistency that had plagued it earlier in the season. Starter Josh Dietch, coming off an impressive 2-1 victory over Thomas More, failed to retire a single batter, giving up two walks, a home run, and a double before being pulled.
New pitcher and usual starter Trevor Young-Hyman did not fare much better, getting tagged for six hits and five runs in just two innings. In all, the Bears yielded nine runs in the first inning.
Alex Cucuru stopped the bleeding for three innings, but it was back to batting practice against the next Bears pitcher, Matt Knepper. DePauw touched him up for three more runs in the 13-6 Tiger rout.
“Steve Schmidt again pitched a wonderful first game,” head coach Ric Lessmann said. “But Deitch, as well as he pitched against Thomas More, did not pitch well in game two and got us in a deep hole from which we could not recover.”
The two losses mean that the Bears now have only a slim chance of making it into the NCAA Tournament. However, the team still has a chance to finish the season on a strong note. The Bears play two doubleheaders next weekend, both in Cleveland against Case Western Reserve University.
All in all, the Bears are satisfied with how the season has gone.
“Not to make excuses, but the loss of Adam Cowley, our number one pitcher, does have its effect,” Lessmann said. “The team being 19-10 at this point and having a share of the UAA Conference championship makes for a very successful season.”