The 14th-ranked Case Western Reserve University baseball team ran its winning streak to three straight games with a pair of wins on Saturday at the Derby City Classic, defeating Millikin University 12-8 in the first game of the day and coming from behind to beat host Spalding College 7-5 in the second contest.

CWRU improved to 3-2 with the two victories.

Sophomore infielder Tyler Stillson went a combined five-for-seven over the two games with three runs and two RBIs, and graduate student Jack Anderson added three hits, including a double and a single, and three runs in addition to recording the save in the win over Spalding.

Game 1 - CWRU 12, Millikin 8

A two-run single by sophomore shortstop Nate Arterburn broke a 7-7 tie and helped to lead the Spartans to a 12-8 lead over Millikin in the first game of the day for the Spartans on Saturday afternoon.

CWRU jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the game, taking advantage of five walks in the bottom of the first inning to score three runs and adding two in the second inning on a one-out home run by graduate student first baseman Dane Camphausen. Millikin closed the gap with two runs in the third off CWRU right-handed senior starter Kyle Gearding, but the Spartans got a run back in the bottom of the frame when graduate student designated hitter Franco Alonso scored on an RBI single by graduate student third baseman Zack Carinci.

Millikin cut into the lead further with a two-out, two-run double in the top of the fourth, chasing Gearding from the game. However, sophomore right-handed reliever Zach Barnes went on to strike out the final batter of the fourth and stuck out three in a scoreless fifth to keep the Spartans ahead 6-4 heading into the sixth.

Millikin was able to take the lead with three runs in the top of the sixth off first-year right-handed pitcher Charlie Griffith and held a 7-6 advantage until the bottom of the seventh. CWRU loaded the bases with nobody out in the seventh with three-straight singles from Stillson, senior right fielder Nick Harms, and Alonso, but remained behind by a run after a fielder's choice and a pop-out. However, a wild pitch allowed Harms to score the game-tying run and Arterburn followed with the go-ahead two-run single to give the Spartans the lead back. CWRU added a fourth run in the inning on an RBI double by Anderson, taking a 10-7 lead into the eighth.

Millikin scored a run in the bottom of the eighth to cut the lead to two, but CWRU added two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth on a sacrifice fly from Harms and a throwing error that scored Stillson from third. Junior right-handed pitcher Karthik Gondy, who entered the game in the eighth, pitched a scoreless ninth to close out the win for the Spartans.

Griffith, who allowed four runs (three earned) on three hits with two strikeouts and three walks in two and a third innings of relief, earned his first collegiate win to improve to 1-0 on the year. Gondy claimed his first save of the season with 1.2 innings of hitless relief work.

Millikin's Alec Mallinder suffered the loss, falling to 0-1 on the year.

Alonso finished the game three-for-three with two runs, an RBI, and a pair of walks. Camphausen went one-for-four with two runs and two RBIs while clubbing his sixth home run of the season and his fifth in the last two games. Stillson and Arterburn each added two hits against Millikin as well.

Millikin fell to 3-4 with the loss, the team's third-consecutive setback.

Game 2 - CWRU 7, Spalding 5

The Spartans overcame an early four-run deficit and took their first lead with three runs in their final at-bat to best Spalding 7-5 in the nightcap on Saturday.

Down by a run, 5-4, heading into the team's final at-bat in the top of the ninth, Anderson led the inning off with a triple into the left centerfield gap to put the potential game-tying run just 90 feet away. A batter later, Camphausen drove in Anderson with a sacrifice fly, knotting the score at 5-5. Senior left fielder Logan Andreyko and Stillson followed with base hits to put runners at first and second, and then Harms drove in Andreyko with a third-straight hit, giving the Spartans their first lead of the game, 6-5. CWRU added a run on a sacrifice fly by junior second baseman Jasiah Harris to take a 7-5 lead into the ninth, and Anderson closed out the win by retiring the side in order in the ninth, including a pair of strikeouts, for his second save of the year.

CWRU's comeback was precipitated by an early 4-0 deficit after the first two innings. CWRU chipped away at the lead in the third, scoring runs on a ground ball by Anderson and an RBI single from Andreyko to cut the Spalding advantage in half. The Golden Eagles answered with a run in the bottom of the third, going ahead 5-2.

However, that would prove to be the only run the Spartan bullpen would allow in an otherwise stellar outing that saw six different pitchers yield just one run on two hits and strike out 11 over eight innings of work. Junior Austin McGowan went an inning and a third without allowing a hit, and first-year Ayush Shetty followed with 2.2 hitless innings with five strikeouts in his collegiate debut.

In the seventh, CWRU loaded the bases with two outs and Stillson delivered a two-run single to pull the Spartans back within a run, 5-4. First-year Cody Hughes got into trouble in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases with two outs, but first-year Oliver Miller was able to induce a pop-out for the final out of the inning. Miller then worked around runners on second and third with nobody out in the eighth by holding the runners on a groundout back to the mound and striking out the next two hitters to keep it a one-run game heading into the ninth and set up the late-inning heroics from the Spartan bats.

Miller earned the win in the game, the first of his collegiate career, improving to 1-0 on the campaign.

Stillson finished the game three-for-four at the plate with a run and two RBIs, while Anderson was two-for-five with two runs, a triple, and an RBI. Andreyko added a two-for-three showing with a run, an RBI, and a pair of walks.

Spalding fell to 2-3 with the loss to the Spartans.

CWRU will wrap up its play in Louisville this weekend against Ohio Northern at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday.

Spartan Notes

• The first game on Saturday was the first-ever meeting between CWRU and Millikin. Saturday's victory over Spalding was the Spartans' first in four games against the Golden Eagles after being swept in a three-game series to open the 2019 campaign.

• Anderson collected his 63rd-career double and 14th-career triple, both school-record marks. He now has 237 career hits, the third most in program history behind Chad Mullins (263) and Matt Keen (250).

• Camphausen's home run on Saturday was the 50th home run of his career (including his four years as an undergraduate at Wooster), the most among active Division III players and fourth among active NCAA players across all three Divisions. He is also the active Division III leader and third among all NCAA players with 201 career RBIs. Camphausen's home run was his 19th as a Spartan, the fifth-most in program history. He is now batting .476 with six home runs and 14 RBIs through the team's first five games, despite seeing his 22-game hitting streak come to a close in the second contest of the day.

• Miller has not allowed a hit in his first two collegiate appearances, striking out five batters and walking just one in 2.1 innings of work.