Case Western Reserve University swept the DePauw men's baseball team this past weekend as they dropped all four games to the Spartans.
The first doubleheader on Saturday afternoon the Tigers played a close game one losing 2-1, but fell three runs short in the nightcap, 8-5. On day two of game play, DePauw could not pull out enough runs for the win in the first game, 9-2, but held strong in the second keeping the score down only losing by one run, 4-3.
The Tigers fell to 17-14 while the Spartans improved their season mark to 22-9.
The pitchers dueled throughout the first game with DePauw's junior Michael Chiaro and Case Western Reserve's senior Jarret Gish each going six innings scoreless. The Tigers were able to generate one run in the seventh by playing small ball.
After junior Rob Stein doubled, fellow junior Paul Mpistolarides advanced Stein to third with a sacrifice bunt. Stein later scored on sophomore Matt Dorsett's sacrifice bunt. The Spartans scored on a walk in the eighth inning to tie the game at one.
Case Western Reserve brought its top game, playing off the pitcher's game.
"They had some great starting pitchers who all threw most of their games," freshman Connor Einertson said.
The ninth inning proved to be a challenge for the Tigers as Spartan senior Brett Ossola reached base courtesy of a walk by DePauw junior pitcher Pete Stuart. Freshman Marques Winick pinch runner for Ossola advanced to second on an error. Winick reached third off another walk scoring the game-winning run to give the Spartans the first game of the series.
The Tigers were outscored 23-11 in the four games against the Spartans. DePauw could not get the hits they needed to score throughout the weekend.
"Pretty much all weekend our batting struggled," Einertson said. "We just couldn't match up to the other team's batting average this weekend."
The team will face Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Wednesday and look to end their losing streak. DePauw will focus on hitting and relief pitching throughout the week.
"The team just needs to be able to find ways to score runs whether that be situational hitting or being aggressive on the bases," Einertson said. "It is also key for relief pitchers to be able to find the zone fast because they usually are coming in during situations where we are in some trouble."
