Box Score The 2023 season ended for the Case Western Reserve University baseball team on Saturday following a pair of losses for the team at the Marietta Regional. The Spartans dropped the first game of the day 8-3 to 11th-ranked Marietta and were then eliminated from the double-elimination tournament with a 9-8 loss to Adrian in the late contest.
With the two losses, the Spartans end their campaign with a 28-15 overall record.
Game 1: #11 Marietta 8, CWRU 3
CWRU headed to the elimination game after suffering an 8-3 loss to Marietta in the first game of the day.
The Spartans, who were the home team for the game, opened the scoring with a pair of two-out runs in the bottom of the second on run-scoring singles from senior shortstop Owen Levinson and senior catcher Jack Anderson. However, Marietta answered with four runs in the top of the fourth, including three on a two-out home run by Cole Yeager, to take a 4-2 advantage.
Starting pitcher Evan Faxon left the game with two outs and the bases loaded in the fourth, giving way to junior Patrick O'Connor, who recorded the final out of the inning on a fly ball to right with a leaping catch from sophomore outfielder Nick Harms to prevent any further runs from crossing the plate. However, the Pioneers added on three more runs in the fifth to extend their lead to 7-2.
Harms pulled the Spartans closer with a solo home run to lead off the sixth, cutting the Marietta lead to four. The home run was his 11th of the season, tying the school single-season record set by Rocco Maue in 2018.
CWRU brought the tying run to the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the seventh, but Carinci grounded into a double play to end the threat. The Pioneers added a run in the eighth to extend their lead to five runs.
The Spartans finished the game with an 11-8 edge in his over the Pioneers. Anderson led the way with a four-for-five showing at the plate with an RBI and set a new program record for hits in a season with his 87th of the season on a fifth-inning single, breaking the previous record of 86 set by Andrew Gronski in 2014. Sophomore outfielder Logan Andreyko added a two-for-three performance with a double and a walk.
Faxon suffered the loss in the game, ending a stretch of five-straight starts with a win and dropping to 5-4 on the year. Gino Sabatine earned the win for Marietta, improving to 3-2 for the campaign. Marietta improved to 35-11 overall with the win and advanced to championship day on Sunday, needing just one win to clinch advance to the Super Regional round.
Game 2: Adrian 9, CWRU 8
The Spartans fell behind early in the elimination game and despite a late rally were never able to take a lead in a 9-8 loss to Adrian.
Adrian scored four unearned runs in the first inning to take the early lead in the game. Anderson led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run, his third of the season, to cut into the Bulldogs' lead, and an RBI groundout by Levinson in the bottom of the second made it a 4-2 score. However, Adrian plated four more runs in the third to take an 8-2 advantage.
In the bottom of the fourth, Andreyko drove in a run with a base hit, but a run in the top of the fifth increased Adrian's lead back to six runs.
The score remained 9-3 until the bottom of the seventh when the Spartans climbed back into the game with a four-run inning. The Spartans loaded the bases with one out before first-year second baseman Jasiah Harris was hit by a pitch to force across the first run of the inning. Junior third baseman Zack Carinci followed with an RBI groundout, and with two outs and runners at second and third, Harms doubled to drive in a pair and make it a two-run game, 9-7.
CWRU came to bat in the bottom of the ninth trailing by two. Down to their final two outs, Harris tripled down the right field line, and scored a batter later on a double by Carinci, pulling CWRU back within a run with the potential game-tying run in scoring position. After a strikeout for the second out of the inning, senior outfielder Trey Haley drew a walk and Carinci stole third to put runners on the corners. Haley would steal second to put the potential go-ahead run in scoring position as well, but the Bulldogs were able to get the final out on a groundout to first base to end the game.
Carinci finished the game one-for-four at the plate with a double and a pair of RBIs and made his season debut on the mound, pitching a pair of scoreless innings to close out the contest. Harris added a two-for-four showing with a triple and hit safely in each of the team's final 18 games of the year. Anderson went one-for-four with the home run, two runs, and an RBI, and ended the year with a school-record 88 hits.
CWRU starter Kyle Gearding suffered the loss to end his season with a 6-2 record, while Adrian's Lincoln Lipinski picked up the win to improve to 4-2. Ryan Davis pitched the final two and a third innings for the Bulldogs to record his sixth save of the year.
Adrian, which will advance to face Marietta for the regional championship on Sunday, improved to 27-20 following the win.
