Box Score Case Western Reserve University junior second baseman Rocco Maue turned in a career day, hitting three home runs and driving in eight runs to lead the Spartans to a 12-1 win over Roger Williams University at the Spartan Southern Classic in Lexington, South Carolina on Wednesday afternoon.
Maue hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning, a grand slam in the sixth, and a second two-run shot in the ninth inning, finishing the game hitting five-for-six with eight RBIs, three runs scored and a stolen base. He has four home runs and 10 RBIs in the last two games for CWRU, and is batting a team-leading .514 with 12 RBIs and 13 runs scored through the team's first eight games of the year.
The Spartans have now won five-straight games and improved to 7-1 overall with a 4-0 record at the Spartan Southern Classic. Roger Williams fell to 1-7 on the year with the loss.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Matt Levine was dominant in his second collegiate start, needing just 83 pitches to navigate through seven shutout innings, en route to his first collegiate win. Levine scattered seven hits and a walk, while striking out five batters in the game, improving to 1-0 on the year with a 2.45 earned run average.
Maue's first home run broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fifth. The following inning, with the bases loaded, Maue was hit by a pitch, but was called back to the plate for not attempting to avoid it. On the following pitch, he sent a ball over the wall in left field to extend the lead to 6-0. In the eighth inning, sophomore center fielder Samuel Neal scored on a wild pitch, while freshman designated hitter Jake Ryan, junior catcher Tyler Wypiszenski and senior pinch hitter Alex Capetillo all had RBI hits to push the advantage to 10-0.
After Roger Williams scored an unearned run off a pair of errors in the bottom of the eighth, Maue capped off his day with a two-run shot, sending a laser just inside the left field foul pole for his third long ball of the game and fourth of the year.
Sophomore Tony Yambor and freshman Tony Smodilla each pitched hitless innings in relief of Levine to help close out the win.
The Spartans outhit the Hawks 13-7 in the game, including a two-for-four day for Wypiszenski at the plate, including a double, a triple, two runs scored, an RBI, and a stolen base.
Roger Williams starter Tyler Brett took the loss, dropping to 0-1 on the year.
The Spartans will return to action at the Spartan Southern Classic on Thursday, March 15th at 10:00 a.m. against the University of Rochester.
