Box Score The Case Western Reserve University baseball team collected its seventh-consecutive win, defeating John Carroll University 15-3 in University Heights, Ohio on Tuesday afternoon.
The victory saw the Spartans climb to a season-best six games above .500 with a 15-9 overall record, while John Carroll dropped to 8-12 on the year. Tuesday's game marked the seventh time this season that the Spartans have scored at least 10 runs in a game, and the third time in the team's last four games.
John Carroll jumped out to the early lead in the game, when Rob Cifelli led off the bottom of the first with a walk, eventually coming around to score on a sacrifice fly from David Crowley. Case Western Reserve junior starting pitcher Preston Williams was able to limit the damage in the inning, leaving runners stranded at second and third at the end of the inning to keep it at a 1-0 game.
The score remained 1-0 until the top of the third, when six-straight Spartan batters reached with one out in the inning to give Case Western Reserve the lead. Freshman third baseman Jacob Kucia started the rally with a base hit, and an error allowed sophomore second baseman Danny Souza to reach, putting runners at first and second. Junior center fielder Aaron Cain tied the game with a base hit, scoring Kucia from second, and after a base hit from junior left fielder Josh Neal loaded the bases, junior right fielder Tony Damiano singled to score Souza and give the Spartans a 2-1 advantage. The Spartans added on two more runs in the inning, one on an RBI single from freshman catcher Tyler Wypiszenski and the second on a fly ball to left off the bat of senior designated hitter Tyler Schovanec, giving CWRU a 4-1 advantage heading into the bottom of the third.
The Blue streaks cut the Spartans' lead to two with a two-out RBI single by Cifelli in the fourth, but Williams would get final out of the frame, leaving the tying runs stranded. John Carroll would add on a run on a sacrifice fly from Dominic Mittiga in the fifth, pulling back within a run of the Spartans, 4-3, after five.
Sophomore Liam Killingstad entered the game in the sixth, and would preserve the lead with two and a third scoreless innings of work in relief. Killingstad has not allowed a run in any of his seven appearances out of the bullpen this season, spanning 13.2 innings.
The Spartans remained up by a run until the top of the eight, when freshman Mike Najmowicz drove in a pair of runs with a one-out single to extend the team's lead to 6-3, and Schovanec later stole home on a pickoff attempt at second base to push the lead to four runs. An eight-run top of the ninth inning, including a two-run home run for sophomore Daniel Watson, would secure the win for Case Western Reserve.
Senior Connor Tagg and junior Andrew Rossman combined to pitch the final 1.1 innings and close out the win for the Spartans. Williams earned the win in the game to improve to 3-0 on the year, after allowing just three runs on seven hits over five innings, and striking out six batters.
Wypiszenski finished the game two-for-five with three runs batted in, while Neal went three-for-five with three runs scored and a pair of stolen bases. Kucia added a team-high three hits, scoring a pair of runs and driving in two.
The Spartans are scheduled to return to Nobby's Ballpark on Wednesday, April 6th, when the team will play host to the Otterbein University Cardinals at 4:00 p.m.
