The Washington University baseball team could not hold onto their 9-1 lead as the University of Chicago battled back with 15 unanswered runs to down the Bears 16-13 in a Saturday afternoon affair at Kelly Field.

Skyler Kessler | Student Life

Senior Zack Kessinger bats in the Bears’ loss against the University of Chicago Saturday afternoon. The Bears split the doubleheader against Chicago and Kessinger had 4 runs in the second game.

Despite the loss, the Bears still improve to 23-12 thanks to 10-6 and 13-3 wins against Chicago Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon, respectively, as well as 12-7 victory against Webster University Friday night. After a sluggish offensive weekend against Grinnell, the Red and Green averaged 12 runs a game.   

Saturday afternoon featured the highest combined single-game run total this season. The Bears out-hit the division rival Maroons 14 to 13, but were hampered by six errors and a season-high 11 walks.

With the Bears enjoying a 9-1 lead in the top of the sixth, Chicago chipped away at the deficit with a run in the sixth and two runs in the seventh.

In the top of the eighth, the Maroons capitalized on three walks and two errors in the inning to strike five runs, four unearned, against senior Ian Kelso, who relieved senior starting pitcher Kunal Patel an inning earlier. The Bears had a chance to escape the inning unscathed when Chicago smacked a potential double-play ball with the bases loaded and one out. However, senior second baseman Stewart Martens could not corral the short-hop, extending the inning. The Bears were able to convert a 6-4-3 double play highlighted by a sweeping pick by senior first baseman Zack Kessinger to limit the damage, but not before a single through the right side tied the game at 9-9.

After the Bears could not convert on a two-out bases loaded situation in the bottom half of the inning, Chicago broke the game open in the top of the ninth with seven two-out runs. Five of those runs would be charged to sophomore Matt Clohisy, who was charged with the loss, and two to sophomore Jake Mintz. The inning was punctuated by a two-out no-doubt home run that extended Chicago’s lead to 16-9. Tempers flared when Mintz hit the next Maroon batter and was immediately tossed without the customary warning.

“My first reaction was shock because I didn’t know what [the umpire] was doing,” Mintz said. “I told him it was erroneous. I said, ‘Sir, that’s an egregious decision. You don’t [do] that. You’ve got to give me a warning.’”    

Duncan rushed out to protest the ejection and was quickly tossed as well.       

“I thought it was completely inexcusable for the umpire to eject the pitcher given that circumstance and just as inexcusable to eject the coach for sticking up for his player,” Duncan said.

Following the argument, the Bears’ dugout was noticeably more active.

The Maroons’ pitcher plunked Kessinger to leadoff the next inning, but was not ejected which prompted a chorus of boos from both the home fans and the Bears’ dugout.

The Red and Green’s bats seemed to benefit from the added drama. After a sluggish several innings, Wash. U. battled back with four runs on two hits, but could not complete the rally.

Five Bears recorded multi-hit games highlighted by senior Brandon Deger’s six-RBI day (two for five). Lowery, Goldstick, Kessinger and sophomore third-baseman Austin Darmawan added two, two, two and three hits apiece.

Patel cruised through the first five innings, allowing two hits and one unearned run with five strikeouts for the Bears. Patel’s final stat-line would include three earned runs and six free passes.     

A few hours earlier, the Bears were able to halt another late-inning comeback attempt by the Maroons. Chicago would close an eight-run deficit with three runs in the seventh and one run in the eighth, but sophomore Bill Heisler pitched a scoreless ninth to secure the win. Lowery, Martens and junior centerfielder Max Golembo would enjoy multiple-RBI days as senior Max Zhang dealt through seven innings to earn the win.            

Lowery’s record-breaking hit was a two-out, two-RBI single in the fourth inning of Friday’s game against Webster. With the hit, Lowery surpassed Brandon Rogalski (class of 2012) as the all-time hits leader in Wash. U. baseball history.

“It feels amazing,” Lowery said. “I worked really hard my whole life and since early on I was told I wasn’t really able to do it. I was small, I wasn’t that talented, but I worked my butt off and it finally paid off.”

Lowery currently leads the Bears in average (0.435), hits (64), runs scored (42), RBIs (52), stolen bases (18) and total bases (86).

“He’s probably the greatest offensive force to ever come through the school, so it’s been fun watching him,” Duncan said.

Aside from Lowery’s historic performance, the Bears took advantage of seven Webster errors to score seven unearned runs. Junior Julian Clarke gave up fourteen hits and seven earned runs in nine innings pitched for the complete-game victory.

In the Bears’ final game of the weekend, the Red and Green drew eight walks in addition to nine hits on their way to the victory. Golembo provided the spark on offense with team highs in hits (3) and RBI’s (4). Sophomore Scott Nelson earned his fifth win of the year and trimmed his ERA to 3.07 by giving up three earned runs in a complete game victory.

Next up, the Bears will look to continue their hot hitting as they travel north to Principia College for a Tuesday doubleheader before hosting Iowa Wesleyan College a day later.