Iowa Wesleyan Split in SLIAC Game of the Week
The Webster University baseball team settled for a split in its St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener, beating Iowa Wesleyan College, 4-1, and then losing the nightcap, 3-2. The Gorloks saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end.
In the opener, Kyle Uhrich (JR, St. Louis, MO/Webster Groves HS) was the offensive star, clubbing two home runs. Uhrich's first came in the Webster second, when he hit a leadoff home run over the left field wall. With two out in the fifth inning, Uhrich hit an opposite field, two-run shot that just snuck over the right field wall.
The second blast provided insurance runs, giving Webster a 4-1 lead. Starter C. J. Lee had gone 5 2/3 innings, giving up just three hits and one run, walking none and striking out three. He is 2-1 on the year, and sporting a 1.63 earned run average.
Lee gave way to Trey Tigart (SO, Sikeston, MO/Sikeston HS) with two out in the sixth and a runner on third. After giving up a walk, Tigart retired the third out on a pop up to first and ended the threat. Tigart pitched a scoreless seventh to pick up his third save of the season. In SLIAC double headers, the first game is seven innings and the second goes a full nine.
Uhrich wound up 2-3, with two HRs, three RBIs, and two runs scored. Uhrich now has three home runs and 16 RBIs on the season. Mike Golich (FR, Aurora, IL/West Aurora HS) was 1-3, with a stolen base and run scored.
Freshman Josh Fleming (Columbia, IL/Columbia HS) started game two and had a strong outing, going seven innings, giving up six hits, one earned run, two walks, and striking out five. Fleming gave way to Dylan Dean Smith (SR, Albion, IL/Edwards County HS) in the eighth after walking the leadoff batter.
Smith retired the side, picking up two strikeouts, but in the ninth the Tigers had a leadoff double, with the runner reaching third on a passed ball. After Smith retired the next two batters on a popup and a strikeout, a slow roller for an infield hit scored the go ahead run, giving Wesleyan a 3-2 lead. It was the first run Smith had given up in 12 innings on the season.
The Gorloks looked poised to at least tie it up in their half of the ninth. Uhrich reached on a one-out walk, followed by a walk to Connor Hogan (SO, New Lenox, IL/Lincoln Way West HS), and a gutsy double steal put the runners at second and third.
After a conference on the mound, Tiger manager Derek Zander had Ty Hoffhines (JR, Depew, NY/Lancaster HS) intentionally walked to load the bases. Mike Wick (FR, Bartlett, IL/Bartlett HS), who had taken over in right field for Dylan Rajkovich, hit a one hopper that the Wesleyan shortstop was able to corral, step and second and throw to first for a game-ending double play.
Rajkovich (JR, Orland Park, IL/Carl Sandburg HS) had an opposite field homer with two-out in the seventh inning to tie the game up at 2-2, after Wesleyan had taken a 2-1 lead in the top half of the inning. It was Rajkovich's second home run in three games, with the one he hit in a 10-2 win over Wisconsin-Oshkosh landing almost in the exact same spot over the right field wall.
Wesleyan had scored its only run in the contest in the third on three straight singles. Webster had taken a 2-0 lead in the second on Uhrich's first home run and a single by Brett Jungles (SO, Naperville, IL/St. Francis HS), a walk to Wick, a wild pitch, and a groundout by Matt Wollnik (SO, Naperville, IL/Neuqua Valley HS).
The loss broke a Webster 29-game regular season winning streak in the SLIAC. Webster went 26-0 in conference play in 2014, after losing just one SLIAC game in 2013 and finishing 20-1. The Gorloks are 8-5 on the season and have singles games at GCS on March 22 vs. Iowa Wesleyan and Illinois Wesleyan University, starting at noon.
