Box Score The Case Western Reserve University baseball team scored a pair of runs in the top of the 10th inning to earn a 5-3 win over the University of Chicago and claim a split of the four-game series on Sunday afternoon at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana.
With the win, the Spartans and the Maroons each conclude the opening weekend of their respective seasons with a 2-2 record.
Sophomore right fielder Nick Harms finished the game three-for-four with two doubles, two runs scored, a run batted in, and a walk, while stealing a pair of bases. Through the first four games of the year, he is hitting .389 with six extra-base hits, including five doubles and a home run. Sophomore catcher Jay Smith added a two-for-four day at the plate with an RBI.
Chicago took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second against CWRU senior starter Sankalp Doshi, but the Spartans responded in the top of the third, as senior shortstop Trey Haley led the inning off with a single, moved to second on a passed ball, to third on a sacrifice bunt by senior left fielder Kevin Mackenzie, and scored on a run-scoring groundout from senior third baseman Jack Anderson. Chicago regained the lead with a run in the bottom of the third and held the advantage until the sixth inning.
Doshi allowed two runs over three innings of work before giving way to first-year Archer Stankowski, who allowed just one unearned run on two hits with two strikeouts in four and a third innings in his collegiate debut. His effort allowed the Spartans to take their first lead of the game in the top of the sixth. Junior designated hitter Zack Carinci notched a one-out single and scored a batter later on a double by Harms to tie the game. The next batter, first-year centerfielder Matt Trout, singled to score Harms from second and give the Spartans a 3-2 advantage. Stankowski worked around a leadoff triple in the bottom of the sixth to keep the Maroons off the board, and CWRU held the lead until the bottom of the eighth when Chicago tied the game on an unearned run. The game remained knotted at 3-3 after a scoreless ninth, sending the contest into extra innings.
Anderson was hit by a pitch to start the 10th and then stole second and advanced to third on an error, scoring the eventual game-winning run on a sacrifice fly by Carinci. Harms followed with a single, stole second and third, and then scored on an RBI single by Smith to put CWRU in front 5-3. Junior Tyler Horvath pitched a perfect bottom of the 10th to record his first save of the campaign.
Junior Patrick O'Connor, who held Chicago scoreless on a hit and a walk with two strikeouts over an inning and two-thirds, earned the win to improve to 1-0 on the year. Dean Casey suffered the loss for Chicago to drop to 0-1 on the campaign.
The Spartans are slated to return to action this week, traveling to Marietta, Ohio for a doubleheader against the sixth-ranked Marietta Pioneers. First pitch of the first game is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
