The Case Western Reserve University baseball team split a doubleheader with #1 Cortland on Saturday at Lexington County Stadium in Lexington, South Carolina, losing the first game 12-1 but winning the second game 7-3.

The win ends a six-game losing streak for the Spartans, who are now 4-6 on the season. The Red Dragons stand at 8-3 after the split.

In the second game of the doubleheader, graduate student pitcher Evan Faxon (2-0) pitched seven strong innings, allowing no earned runs on six hits and a walk. Faxon struck out 10 Red Dragons, his second double-digit strikeout performance of the season. Across three starts, Faxon is averaging 12.46 strikeouts per nine innings.

Junior first baseman Nick Talarico hit his first home run of the season in the second game, a solo shot, and drove in three runs.

Game 1: #1 Cortland 12, CWRU 1

In the opening game of the four-game series, the Spartans managed one hit off Red Dragon starting pitcher Anthony Fusco in six innings. Cortland scored six runs in the middle innings, more than enough to back Fusco.

In the eighth inning, down 7-0, CWRU scored on a run on a two-out single from graduate student shortstop Jacob Lott. The Red Dragons added five runs in the ninth inning.  

Game 2: CWRU 7, #1 Cortland 3

The Spartans rebounded in the second game of the doubleheader, scoring five runs in the first two innings.

First-year outfielder Logan Andreyko walked to lead off the first and got into scoring position after stealing second. A single from first-year catcher Jay Smith drove Andreyko home to get the Spartans on the board. Smith scored on a single from junior first baseman RJ Christie to give CWRU a 2-0 lead. In the second inning, with Lott and Andreyko on base, sophomore third baseman Zack Carinci hit a single to give Case Western Reserve a 3-0 advantage. After the Spartans loaded the bases later in the inning, Talarico singled home a pair of teammates.

In the third inning, Case Western Reserve took advantage of a Red Dragon error to add to its lead. In the next inning, Talarico hit his first home run of the season to give the Spartans a commanding 7-0 advantage.

Faxon cruised through the first six innings, striking out seven Red Dragons while allowing just five hits. Cortland finally scratched two runs off him in the seventh inning, though both were unearned, and added one run in the ninth inning. However, it would not be enough as the Spartans completed the upset.

Case Western Reserve and Cortland finish their four-game series in Lexington, South Carolina on Sunday with a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m.