GW swept a three-game series at La Salle this weekend, knocking in a combined 35 runs to extend its winning streak to eight games. After winning both games of Saturday’s double-header, the Colonials (27-13, 13-2) overcame shaky starting pitching and used their strong offense for the 16th win of 17 games Sunday.
Pitcher Avi Rasowsky replaced Dennis Gramolini in the sixth inning Sunday after the starter gave up five runs in the fifth inning. Strong relief performances by Rasowsky, Justin Orenduff and Mike O’Connor, along with clutch hitting, protected GW’s lead for the 15-8 win.
Head coach Tom Walter credited the middle of his lineup for his team’s strong offensive output.
“Our two, three, four and five hitters are really carrying the load from the production standpoint,” he said. “We’ve been playing pretty well, and the kids are doing a great job.”
High points for GW included Jake Wald’s second-inning grand slam and Ryan Roberson’s two-run homerun. The slam was Wald’s eighth home run of the season and put GW ahead 5-0 before Roberson’s blast made the score 9-0 after the second.
In game two of Saturday’s doubleheader, the Colonials exploded for eight runs in the first two innings for an 11-5 win. Mike Bassett hit his 11th homerun of the season and added four RBIs.
The offense, which knocked in 11 runs off eight hits, compensated for a sub-par performance by starter Jason Baker. Baker (4-4) got the win despite allowing four earned runs on seven hits in six innings.
Pitching was not a problem for GW in game one, with starter Greg Conden (8-2) delivering his eighth win of the season. He held the Explorers to one earned run on three hits, striking out four in six innings for the 9-3 win.