Miles Quemuel-Labrador pitched four innings in a 14-8 win over NYU. (Isabella Diaz-Mira | Student Life)

After last weekend’s tough losses to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, the Washington University baseball team bounced back for a dominant 3-1 series win over the New York University Violets to start conference play on March 29-31. 

In their three wins, the Bears put on an offensive clinic, stacking up 26 hits and 22 runs alone in their double header on Saturday. Between the first three games, the Bears amassed 37 hits, while also giving up 30 hits to NYU. Things came crashing down for WashU with a 12-0 loss on Sunday, however, where they were outhit 12-3. With the three wins and one loss, WashU moves to 17-9 on the season and is tied for first in the University Athletic Association (UAA) with Case Western Reserve University.

In the conference opener on Friday afternoon, the Bears got off to a hot start, leading the Violets 6-0 through the end of the second inning. But this massive lead was short-lived, as NYU cut the deficit to just two in the third inning after the visiting team picked up four runs off of a combined two singles, two doubles, and a walk. WashU rebounded in the fourth, scoring three runs, beginning with senior Clayton Miller stealing home on a wild pitch. The Violets mounted a comeback, scoring two runs in the sixth and a single run in the ninth inning, before WashU locked in the final out, catching a flyball to right field to secure a 9-7 victory.

In the Saturday doubleheader, the Bears’ offense came out firing on all cylinders to pick up the next two wins. The Violets held a 3-0 lead early in the second game of the series. After the two teams combined for 12 runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings, NYU went into the sixth with an 8-7 lead but couldn’t maintain it. The Bears went on a tear, putting up seven runs in the sixth inning alone to take a 14-8 lead. Miller would relieve the final innings of the game, closing it out without giving up a single run to preserve the victory for the Bears. First-year Carson Cleage also had a standout game, batting three for four while also picking up four RBIs.

Saturday’s second game proved to be a relatively closer contest. The Bears snatched an early 3-0 lead, when Cleage boomed a three-run homer over the left field fence. After the strong start, WashU led throughout the rest of the game, scoring another combined five runs in the fifth and sixth. The Bears would hold on to win the game 8-7 after the visiting team attempted a rally, scoring six runs in the final four innings. Coming in to relieve in the eighth, first-year Zach Pearl allowed just one hit in two innings to secure the win and gain his first collegiate save.

In the final game of the series, the Bears’ high-powered offense was nowhere to be found, as NYU avoided a sweep of the four-game series. The Violets had a productive first inning, scoring three runs. The Bears’ hitting woes continued throughout the game, as WashU just could not get their bats going, with only three players managing to generate a hit. The visiting team would go on to score nine more runs in the top of the seventh before the game ended 12-0 in favor of the Violets. NYU’s pitcher Aaron Reid won UAA Conference Player of the Week for his effort on Sunday’s game.

The Bears will look to continue the positive momentum of this weekend into Wednesday’s match against their rival across Wydown, Fontbonne University, with the first pitch happening at 3 p.m. on April 3 at WashU’s Kelley Field. The matchup against the Griffins will be the penultimate non-conference game for the Bears, who also host Rose-Hulman Institute of  Technology on Wednesday, April 10. After dropping two of three games in the most recent series with Fontbonne in 2022, the Bears will look to triumph in this rematch, which will be one of the last games between the two universities before Fontbonne plans to close in the summer of 2025.