The GW baseball team won a doubleheader Saturday but lost game three in a weekend series at Barcroft Park against Dayton. The series was characterized by strong offense from seniors Ryan Dacey and Matt Walker and sophomore Matt Krimmel.
The Colonials (26-17, 8-4 Atlantic 10) will play at Georgetown Tuesday.
Dayton 7, GW 4
Sunday, April 16
The Colonials did not have the offense Sunday that won them Saturday’s doubleheader as GW fell to visiting Dayton 7-4. GW faced Dayton’s Kris Bracken, who threw well, striking out four and allowing just six hits in a complete game effort.
Bracken shut down one of GW’s better hitters, second baseman Ryan Dacey. Dacey went 0-for-5 against Bracken. Dacey batted second behind freshman leadoff hitter Tony Dokoupil. Dokoupil didn’t reach base once.
Matt Krimmel extended his strong weekend by going 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Down 3-1 in the third inning, sophomore Mike Bassett doubled to left, scoring Krimmel and Walker. The offense, however, was shut down until the bottom of the eighth.
In the eighth, Krimmel was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on Walker’s groundout. Mike Bassett singled and Krimmel reached third. He finally scored on Dan Rouhier’s fielder’s choice.
Dayton’s Brent Berigan hit a double to right-center, scoring leadoff hitter Mark Schulte, who had reached on a single. That was part of a three-run, four-hit first inning given up by GW pitcher Chris Worth.
Worth then settled down and pitched well until the seventh, when he was replaced by freshman Glen Skutnik and then Bryan Beggs. The GW relievers gave up two runs on four hits against the Flyers (12-22, 6-6 A-10) in the final three innings.
GW 14, Dayton 3
GW 8, Dayton 2
Saturday, April 15
Following a first-game victory for GW, freshman Greg Conden went to work under gray skies. He was vying for his sixth straight win, and based on his first inning, it didn’t look promising. But, in the end, the Colonials’ offense stepped up to the task and GW pounded Dayton 14-3.
Mark Schulte, Dayton’s centerfielder, opened with a single to rightfield. Conden, perhaps flustered, threw a wild pitch, and Schulte was on second with no outs. Just as the skies opened, Brent Berigan crushed a double to right-center, scoring Schulte. After the first inning, Conden (6-0) and the Colonials found themselves down 2-0.
After this, Conden recovered and breezed by most hitters, pitching six strong innings and giving up two runs on six hits.
Dayton’s pitcher, Jason McFarland, struggled in every inning but the first inning, the only inning the Colonials did not score. McFarland was replaced in the fifth by Nick Hahnenberg, who gave up six runs without getting an out. GW would score seven in the inning.
Dan Rouhier led off the fifth inning with a walk and Tony Dokoupil followed with a single. Catcher Eric Mitchell was hit by a pitch and Dacey stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs. Dacey doubled to deep left, knocking in two runs.
Following Dacey’s at-bat, Krimmel walked, and runners were on second and third base when Matt Walker came up. Walker walked and the bases were loaded again with no outs when Bassett stroked the ball to right-center, scoring two runs. Dayton would never recover.
GW head coach Tom Walter said he was pleased with his offense. He praised Dacey, who finished the game going 3-for-4 with two RBIs
It’s good to see Dacey come alive offensively down the stretch, Walter said.
In the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, junior Adam Belicic (6-4) surrendered just three hits and was two outs short of a seven-inning complete game as the Colonials pounded Dayton 8-2. With two outs remaining, Belicic was replaced by Bryan Beggs with the win intact.
The Colonials were powered on offense by Matt Krimmel, who hit his fifth home run this season. Dacey doubled in the first, sparking a three-run first inning for GW.
In the second inning, Krimmel hit a towering home run to centerfield, scoring Rouhier and Jake Wald.
