Scott BresslerWashington University baseball rebounded from two losses against the nationally-ranked DePauw Tigers with a 12-4 road win against Westminster College on Wednesday. However, the Bears then faced Illinois Wesleyan for the second time this season and lost to the No. 16 Titans 13-2. The team is now 11-10 (3-3 UAA).
The Bears blew open the Westminster game in the top of the first, scoring four runs on five hits, including a three-run homerun by junior right fielder Zander Lehman. After back-to-back singles to lead off the game by senior Dave Working and freshman Miguel Davis, junior Jerry Price scored Working with a one-out single. Lehman then drove a curveball over the right-center fence and over the 30-foot wall of an adjacent building to cap off the four run inning.
“I have faced Westminster’s starting pitcher a few times in the previous years, so I was ready to see slow fastballs and curveballs. With the wind blowing as it was, any line drive in the air would have probably gone out,” Lehman, a co-captain, said.
“It almost was a little dangerous because after the first inning, we lost some fire and got a little complacent. It was nice to hang some more runs on them in the later innings,” Working, a co-captain, added.
Lehman finished the game 3-5, as did sophomore shortstop Remy Midkiff. Andy Webb, Gregg Kennedy, Mark Rodli and Davis also all had multi-hit games to contribute to the 18-hit total. Rodli extended the lead to 6-1 with a two-RBI double in the third, and Lehman added two more RBIs on a triple in the eighth inning. Midkiff also had two RBIs in the contest.
“After being shut out by DePauw, it was imperative to get off to a quick start. We’ve been struggling as a team this year to get things going early. It’s a huge boost to be playing up and extremely fatiguing to be playing catch up, so we needed to make a statement,” Midkiff said.
On the mound, sophomore southpaw Jeremy Rogoff improved to 2-2 for the year. Rogoff tossed seven innings of four run ball, surrendering six hits and walking five in the process. He also struck out 10.
“Jeremy has nasty stuff. He issues a walk or two too many, but his fastball sets up his biting curveball that other teams swing right through for strikeouts. His strikeouts were really up today,” Midkiff said.
“To only give up four runs to a good hitting team with a strong tailwind in a small field is a feat,” Lehman said.
Against the Titans, junior co-captain Brian Williams fell to 3-6 on the season after allowing 11 runs in four innings.
The Red and Green took an early lead in the top of the seond after junior Scott Kennedy singled home sophomore Nick Vom Brack. However, the Titans responded with four runs in the bottom of the frame and wound up winning the game in seven innings due to the 10 run mercy rule.
The Bears are off until traveling to Greenville College for a doubleheader on Tuesday. Following Tuesday’s games, the team will travel to Cleveland, Ohio for the conclusion of UAA play against the University of Chicago and Case Western Reserve University that weekend.