With two outs in the top of the 10th inning, junior second baseman Trey Haley delivered a two-run go-ahead single to give the Case Western Reserve University baseball team a 6-4 win over the University of Mount Union on a cold and rainy Tuesday afternoon in Alliance, Ohio at Rafeld-Rogers Field.

The Spartans improve to 3-0 on the season, while the Purple Raiders drop to 0-3.

Junior left fielder Kevin Mackenzie walked, junior catcher Jack Anderson followed with a single, and senior center fielder Cole Jarrett was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Case Western Reserve in the top of the 10th inning to set up Haley's heroics. Sophomore third baseman/reliever Zack Carinci closed the door in the bottom of the 10th by striking out the side in order to record his first save of the season.

After Mount Union clawed back from a 3-0 deficit to take a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, CWRU rallied in the ninth inning to tie the game. Jarrett led off the ninth with a walk, finally getting to Mount Union reliever Dwayne Sumler who had shut down the Spartans with three perfect innings after coming on in the sixth. Graduate student shortstop Jacob Lott followed with a double to put both the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position and no outs. Following a strikeout, Sumler uncorked a wild pitch with Carinci at the plate, allowing Jarrett to tie the game. Lott was left stranded, leaving the game tied at four heading into the bottom of the ninth.

First-year reliever Nick Harms, who had escaped a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the eighth inning with a strikeout, worked around a walk to send the game into extra innings. Harms (1-0) earned the win, striking out two in an inning and a third while allowing just one baserunner.

The Spartans got on the board early, starting the game with three runs in the first inning. Following a Haley leadoff walk, Carinci hit with a two-run home run, his first of the season and the first by a CWRU player this year. With two outs, Anderson drove in graduate student designated hitter Tre Armstrong with a single to give senior starting pitcher Nick Denove a 3-0 lead.  

The Purple Raiders responded in the second inning with a solo home run from Walker Marlowe to cut the Case Western Reserve lead to two runs. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Mount Union's Trey Weaver hit a solo home run to make the score 3-2. Denove then loaded the bases with two walks and a hit batter before exiting in favor of sophomore pitcher Tyler Horvath. Horvath struck out the next three Purple Raiders to neutralize the threat and maintain the lead. Denove did not factor into the decision after allowing two runs on four hits and two walks in three innings.

With two outs in the fifth inning, Mount Union tied the score at three with a double down the right field line from Eric Schilling. Junior reliever Sankalp Doshi kept the Purple Raiders off the board over the next two innings, striking out three and walking one. However, the Spartans could not capitalize, and Mount Union took a 4-3 lead on a double from Marlowe in the bottom of the eighth. Harms prevented the deficit from growing, striking out the last batter of the frame after coming on with two outs.

Carinci finished the game two-for-five at the plate with a walk and two runs batted in. Mackenzie added a pair of hits and a walk, and Haley and Jarrett both drew two walks in the contest. Collin Skufca (0-1) took the loss for Mount Union, allowing a run on two hits in two-thirds of an inning.

Case Western Reserve will look to keep the momentum going when the team starts its Spring Break trip on March 6. The Spartans will take on North Carolina Wesleyan, who received votes in the latest D3baseball.com/NCBWA Top 25 Poll, at 11 a.m. and Roanoke 3 p.m. CWRU will face Brevard on March 10 and will have four games against top-ranked Cortland from March 11-13.