Merzel and Williams Throw Pair of Gems Against Webster

BOX 1 | BOX 2

St. Louis, Mo., May 2, 2009 – The Washington University baseball team saw dominant pitching performances by sophomore Adam Merzel and senior Brian Williams on Saturday, May 2, as the Bears swept two games in a doubleheader with Webster University at Kelly Field. Behind Merzel’s complete game one-hitter in game one, Washington U. posted a 5-1 win, while Williams pitched seven scoreless innings in the second game, and the Red and Green picked up a 3-0 victory.

Merzel was masterful in his start, taking a perfect game into the sixth inning. After retiring the first 17 batters he faced, Merzel gave up a home run to Ryan Howard with two outs in the sixth, and allowed just three base runners during the entire game. He tallied six strikeouts and improved to 7-2 with the win, lowering his season earned run average (ERA) to 2.79.

Williams was equally effective in the second game, spreading five hits over seven innings of work and striking out six. He only allowed more than one base runner in the third inning when the Gorloks tallied a pair of one-out hits, but Williams retired the final two batters to get out of the jam. He picked up his team-leading eighth win of the season and has an 8-2 record with a 3.68 ERA in 2009.

Washington U. improves to 25-10 overall with its pair of victories and the Bears’ hot streak continued, as the team has now won five-straight games and 10 of its last 11 outings. The wins over Webster were of added significance as the Red and Green make a push for an at-large berth into the 2009 NCAA Division III Tournament; Webster was ranked No. 3 in the latest Central Region rankings, released by the NCAA on April 30.

With two pitchers on a roll on the mound, Washington University did not need much offense on Saturday, but a three-run home run by senior Gregg Kennedy in the bottom of the first in game one meant the Bears were in control early on. It was already 1-0 Washington U., thanks to a Nick Vom Brack RBI double to right center field that scored leadoff man Remy Midkiff, and Kennedy followed Vom Brack’s at-bat with a three-run shot to right field, his first homer of the year.

The Bears’ other run in the first game came in the third as Vom Brack notched his second RBI of the day. Senior Zander Lehmann led off the inning with a double to left field, moved over to third on a single from sophomore Matt Bayer, and scored on Vom Brack’s single. Washington U. appeared to be headed to a big third inning with three-straight hits to lead off the frame, but Webster starter Will Savage used a big double play that caught Bayer out at home and senior Scott Kennedy at first to escape the inning with just one run worth of damage.

Neither team mustered much offense early in game two, as the team’s remained deadlocked at 0-0 through three and a half innings of action. Fortuitously Washington U. took a 1-0 lead in the last of the fourth, aided by a pair of errors by Webster shortstop Zach Little. Bayer found himself on second base thanks to a one-out infield hit to Little, which was compounded by an error on a late throw to first, and two Bears were on base when Little misplayed a groundball off the bat of Vom Brack one batter later.

Washington University put a run on the board when Scott Kennedy drew a bases loaded walk to score Bayer, and Eric Broughton retired the next two batters to end the inning. The Bears’ other two runs came one inning later as Lehmann and Bayer recorded RBI’s. Lehmann’s base hit up the middle scored Midkiff and another error, this time a failed pick-off attempt by Broughton enabled Lehmann to advance all the way to third, where Bayer hit a sacrifice fly to left field.

Strong pitching by Broughton and reliever John DuHadway limited Washington U. to just five hits in the second game, but with Williams on the mound the Bears did not need much offense to secure the win. Bayer and Vom Brack both recorded multi-hit games in the first contest, as Vom Brack was 3-for-3 at the plate with two RBI, and Bayer was 2-for-3.

Bear Notebook: Lehmann was 2-for-6 on the day and continues to lead the Bears with a .436 batting average … The one hit allowed by Merzel in game one is a season-best for Washington U. … While Merzel flirted with a no-hitter, the last Washington University no-hitter occurred on March 16, 2002, when Adam Cowley picked up a 6-2 win over Concordia University … Andy Shields was the last Washington U. pitcher to hold a team to just a single hit, doing so on March 10, 2007, in a 15-1 win of the Milwaukee School of Engineering … With Saturday’s win, Williams picked up his second victory of the week. In 13 innings of action this week, Williams is 2-0, allowing just seven hits and no runs … The Bears are now 9-1 against schools from the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference this year.