The GW baseball team earned its 21st win of the season and stretched its latest winning streak to six games by sweeping a three-game weekend series with St. Bonaventure and defeating the United States Naval Academy Wednesday at Barcroft Park.
Pitching once again led the way for GW as junior Adam Belicic threw a complete game shutout in the first game of a doubleheader while Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week Bryan Beggs shut down the Bonnies in the second game.
Junior Dan Rouhier and sophomore Mike Bassett led the way offensively for the Colonials with five and seven RBIs, respectively, including Bassett’s team-leading 11th home run of the season.
The Colonials (21-13) return to action Thursday against Howard at Barcroft Park, where they have compiled a 17-3 record so far this season, before heading to St. Joseph’s this weekend.
GW 6, Navy 5
Wednesday, April 5
The Colonials once again rallied from behind to defeat Navy 6-5 Wednesday afternoon at home.
Trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the eighth, the Colonials loaded the bases with one out and scored twice, once on a walk to freshman Tony Dokoupil and then on an error by the Navy catcher after an Eric Mitchell fly-out that plated Bassett.
Bassett was once again the hero offensively for GW as he hit his team-leading 11th homerun, a three-run shot, in the sixth to pull the Colonials back at 5-4. Rouhier also played a big role, going 3-for-3 for the Colonials.
Sophomore Mike O’Connor and freshman Glen Skutnik, who improved to 2-1, combined to pitch eight solid innings, giving up five runs, only two of which were earned, and six hits while striking out seven. Beggs came on to shut the door and earn the save, his fourth, by pitching a perfect ninth, including a strike out to end the game for GW.
The Midshipmen were playing with the distraction of the suspension this week of 11 players for violating curfew.
GW 6, St. Bonaventure 4
Sunday, April 2
The Colonials finished off the three-game sweep of St. Bonaventure with a 6-4 win on Sunday at Barcroft Park.
The win, the Colonials’ fifth straight, improved their record to 20-13 (4-2). The Colonials were able to secure the win despite managing only four hits against five Bonnies pitchers on the day. Rouhier led the way for GW by going 2-for-4 with three RBIs, including a two-run single in the sixth that gave the Colonials a 4-1 lead.
Sophomore Chris Worth pitched six and one-third innings, giving up only eight hits and one earned run while striking out four to earn his fourth win (4-5). Freshman Glen Skutnik pitched the final two and two-thirds innings to earn his second save of the season.
GW 6, St. Bonaventure 5
GW 1, St. Bonaventure 0
Saturday, April 1
The Colonials rallied from a 4-0 first-inning deficit in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader to beat St. Bonaventure 6-5 in 11 innings.
Sophomore Mike Bassett doubled home senior Matt Walker with the game-winning run with one out in the bottom of the 11th to give the Colonials a Saturday sweep. The Colonials cut the lead to 4-2 with runs in the first and third innings, only to have the Bonnies add a run in the top half of the fifth. But GW fought back in the bottom of the fifth by scoring twice on a Rouhier double to cut the lead to 5-4. The Colonials tied the game at 5-5 in the sixth on an RBI single by sophomore Matt Krimmel, which set up Bassett’s extra-inning heroics.
Beggs earned his fourth win of the season after relieving starter Greg Condon in the sixth. Beggs (4-2), the Colonials’ closer, pitched five and one- third innings of scoreless baseball, giving up only three hits while striking out four.
In the second game, an RBI-single by Walker in the first inning that plated freshman Travis Crowder was all the support that junior Adam Belicic needed to shut down the Bonnies.
Belicic (4-4) pitched a complete game shutout, his second of the year, by giving up only five hits while striking out eight to earn his fourth win of the season. Despite the victory the Colonial offense struggled against three St. Bonaventure pitchers, managing just one hit after the first inning.
