Josh Goldman | Student Life

Senior Matt Skinner singles through the box in game two of a doubleheader against Illinois College on Tuesday. Skinner went 6-7 over the two games and had 5 RBIs.

The Bears are now 13-11 on the season after sweeping a doubleheader against the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Thursday at Kelly Field. Wash. U. shut out the Pioneers 12-0 in the first game and took the second contest 5-3.

The team hopes to ride its hot streak into Sunday’s home doubleheader against No. 23 Carthage College. The team had been scheduled to play four games against the Red Men, and head coach Steve Duncan stressed that the team needed to win these games to keep its NCAA tournament hopes alive.

“We need to win three out of four of those, but I’m not all that concerned about how we play against good teams; we play extremely well against good teams,” Duncan said on Wednesday. “What we’re going to need to make a playoff run is more consistency against the other teams that we play the rest of the schedule. We can’t have letdowns.”

The Bears split their six games at the University Athletic Association Championships in Sanford, Fla., but came within a pitch of sharing the UAA Championship with Emory University and Case Western Reserve University.

Ahead 8-7 against Emory on March 14, senior H.T. Flanagan surrendered a walk-off homerun to senior Patrick Riebsame to give the Eagles (15-9, 5-1 UAA) the outright championship.

With the homer, Emory capped its comeback from the 7-0 deficit it faced heading into the bottom of the sixth inning.

“Without a doubt, we had [the championship] right there in our grasp. We had the taste of victory, and it just kind of slipped through our hands,” sophomore pitcher Stephen Bonser said. “Stuff goes wrong, we get a little bit of bad luck and it…slipped away from us.”

Back on campus, the Bears picked up double-header splits with Dominican University, Illinois College and defending NCAA Champion No. 11 Illinois Wesleyan University, as well as two wins over the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

The team earned its biggest win of the season so far, a 5-3 upset of Illinois Wesleyan last Saturday. The Bears scored three runs in the first inning and two in the seventh, and the team withstood a late-inning rally from the Titans to pick up the victory.

Though the Red and Green have fared well against some of the best teams in the country, their biggest disappointments have come in losses to teams that they should have been able to beat. Tuesday’s split with Illinois College was one of these disappointments.

“When we play a team that we know is going to be a really good team and a tough matchup that day, it’s just a whole different [level of] energy when we come to the game than when we play a team that we expect to beat pretty handily,” said senior Matt Skinner, the team’s starting first baseman. “We need to stop looking at what jersey we’re playing or what school we’re playing and just get pumped to play every single game and bring it to every team no matter who it is.”

Wash. U. was poised to sweep the Blue Boys of Illinois College behind Skinner’s monster day at the plate. The senior went six for seven with three doubles, a homerun and five RBIs over the two games; his two-run homerun in the sixth inning of the second game gave the Bears a 4-2 advantage. But Illinois College immediately took the lead on a three-RBI homer in the next inning and held on for the split.

“[Skinner’s performance] was something else,” Duncan said. “It was fun to watch him; he was dialed in, and every swing he put on the ball was squared up. He didn’t get any cheap hits. Not at all. His homerun…was one of the biggest hits of the year. It’s just unfortunate it wasn’t good enough to get us the win, but he was clutch.”

The Bears continue play Sunday, with a doubleheader at home against Carthage. The first game is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.

“We’ve beaten some really good teams, and we’ve played well against tough teams,” Skinner said. “I don’t think we’re happy and satisfied with our record right now, but I honestly think we’re in a good position. If we keep winning games, we’ve beaten good enough teams that we still control our own destiny in regards to getting a [postseason] bid.”