Senior Hank Weiss pitches in the Bears season opener against Aurora. (Eran Fann | Photographer)

WashU played three games against University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point on March 8 and 9, winning all three games. The Bears battled Coe College on March 10 and lost, but won against Westminster on March 12. To end their Spring Break schedule, the Bears played on March 15 and 16 against Gustavus Adolphus College in back-to-back doubleheaders, winning two out of the four matches.

The Bears started Spring Break by playing a doubleheader against Stevens Point. 

To start the doubleheader, the Bears’ pitching team established the game’s tone by striking out Pointer players, only allowing two players on base in the first and second innings and never giving up a run.

The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the sixth, when the Bears finally scored a run. Sophomore Anthony Equale hit a sacrificed fly ball out to right field, giving first-year Will Taigen on third base an opening to score. The Bears were only getting started with this 1-0 lead. WashU would go on to score four more runs, winning the first game 5-0.

Later in the day, the Bears played their second game against Stevens Point — but this time, they didn’t get off as easy. 

The Bears’ pitching team again got off to a fantastic start, preventing the three starting Pointer batters from getting on base, and WashU was able to notch a run in the first.

But the Pointers quickly responded in the second inning, gaining two RBIs due to fielding errors. With a 2-1 lead, this was the first time the Pointers have been ahead of the Bears this season. The Pointers went on to expand their lead to 7-1 by the end of the fifth inning.

“All year, we have had an attitude where we are never out of game,” Noah Reichman said. “We have an offense that can score runs in many ways, and that allows us to make big comebacks late in games.” 

After consecutive silent innings, the Bears finally found a spark in the bottom of the fifth when Equale homered down left field. First-years Kevin Stephens and Ryan Soong added an RBI to the score. Tightening the lead 7-4, the Bears had a chance to make a comeback.

At the bottom of the ninth, the Bears put on an unbelievable show, scoring four RBIs to end the game with a 10-9 win.

The following day, WashU returned to finish a three-game sweep of the Pointers. After a close first two innings, WashU pulled ahead, taking a 3-2 lead into the seventh inning. A triple play from Taigen put the Bears ahead 5-2, where they would finish their series sweep of Stevens Point. 

On March 12, the Coe College Kohawks took a 2-0 lead in the second inning, but WashU quickly responded, equalizing by the third with runs from first-year Cooper Greene and senior Braden Mazone.

The Bears kept their energy up heading into the fifth. Greene made a triple play, and he soon found the plate with the assistance of Equale. The Bears had their first lead of the game, 3-2.

Unfortunately, this lead didn’t last too long, as the Kohawks gained another three RBIs in the seventh due to a bases-loaded situation. Luckily, the Bears responded with sacrificed balls and utilized Coe’s errors to give the team a 6-5 lead.

“We came together and came through with some timely hitting and good base-running, allowing us to take advantage of their mistakes,” Mazone said. “When the offense did that, the defense and pitching staff were able to shut [Coe’s] offense down.” 

After the Kohawks gained a 9-6 lead in the ninth, the Bears struggled to redeem themselves. They sadly fell short, as their two RBIs weren’t enough to tie the game. As a result, the game ended in a 9-8 loss.

March 12 had another game for the Bears, as they played the Westminster College Blue Jays. After the first inning, they were 1-1, with credit to junior Shane Pellegrino who singled to left center field, allowing Reichman to score an RBI.

In the bottom of the fourth, WashU responded with a double play by graduate-student Colter Couillard-Rodak, tightening the Bears’ score to a 3-2 deficit after a fierce rally against the Blue Jays.

When the fifth and seventh innings approached, the Bears tallied an impressive total of 11 RBIs, finishing the game with a dominant 13-3 win.

The last four games of the Spring Break week ended with a four-game series against Gustavus Adolphus.

With the first two games on March 15, the Bears headed into a busy weekend of play. 

WashU quickly got to work in the first inning of their first game, where wild pitches allowed senior Brandon Buday and Soong to score, bringing the score to 2-0.

In the second inning, the score became 5-2 due to a double hit to left field and a homerun by Pellegrino. 

Gustavus closed the gap slightly in the sixth, making it a 7-5 game, but the Bears extended their lead to 9-5 with an outstanding home run by Mazone to right field with Couillard on third base.

Later in the day, the Bears played Gustavus again, looking for a three-game winning streak. 

After a silent second inning, the Bears responded in the third, with Soong and Greene scoring off Josh Erpenbeck triple to left center, ending the inning with a 3-1 lead.

Gustavus had a stellar fourth inning, establishing a 4-3 lead. Their continued momentum later won them the game with an extra tenth inning, and the Bears lost the game 6-4.

On Sunday, March 16, the Bears planned to bounce back and start fresh with their second day of doubleheaders.

The fourth inning was a 2-2 tie game, which became 5-5 later in the sixth. The back-and-forth scoring on both sides didn’t end in the Bears’ favor, as Gustavus’ decisive seventh inning was too big for WashU to come back from. The Bears suffered another loss of 9-8. 

On Sunday, the Bears played Gustavus again, searching for a comeback to end the Spring Break weekend off strong.

The game didn’t start as the Bears wanted, as Gustavus’ first RBI was a home run to the left center field, making the game 1-0.

The Bears had no hesitation entering the third and fifth innings, gaining 10 RBIs to display complete domination over Gustavus. 

Gustavus had no hope of making a comeback, as the Bears’ pitching team and field players gave their opponent no chance of scoring runs. To end the weekend off strong, the Bears were able to claim a 10-2 win.

The Bears will continue their schedule on March 22 by playing the Maryville University Scots in a doubleheader at home.

“We all know that we haven’t played to our best ability as a team yet, and I think that’s very exciting given where we are at in the season,” Mazone said. “Our long-term goal is to win the UAA and get into the postseason and make a run at a championship, but right now, our focus is this weekend against a very good Maryville team that wants nothing more than to come into our ballpark and try to win a series against a newly nationally ranked team.”