Box Score The 10th-ranked Case Western Reserve University baseball team suffered a 6-1 loss to the Washington University (Mo.) in the opening game of a four-game series in Saint Louis, Missouri on Friday afternoon.
The loss dropped the Spartans to 23-5 on the year, while Washington improved to 16-12. CWRU fell to 10-3 in the University Athletic Association, but remained a game up in the loss column in the league standings. The Bears now stand at 5-4 in conference play in 2018.
In the top of the first inning, junior second baseman Rocco Maue singled with one out, advanced to second on a balk, and scored on an RBI single by senior designated hitter Alex Capetillo.
However, Washington starter John Howard would hold the Spartans scoreless over the next seven innings of work. It remained a 1-0 lead for CWRU until the bottom of the fourth, when the Bears tied the game on an RBI single by John Ostrander, and took a lead on a three-run triple by Johnny LaMantia. Washington added single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to secure the 6-1 advantage.
Howard would earn the win in the game with eight strong innings of work, improving to 5-3 on the season. Junior Mark Gross allowed all six earned runs in the game to fall to 4-3. Sophomore Tony Yambor pitched a pair of scoreless innings in relief of Gross, striking out a pair, while allowing just a hit and a walk.
Maue and Capetillo each had two of the Spartans' seven hits in Friday's game, and freshman shortstop Jacob Lott added a double in three at bats, the team's only extra base hit.
The Spartans and the Bears will resume their series on Saturday, April 21st, with a doubleheader starting at 1:00 p.m. ET in St. Louis.
