GW had floated atop the Atlantic 10 all season before dropping two straight series to fall to fifth place – like a student acing a class right up until the final.
But the dramatic drop off still had the Colonials just two games back in the loss column to Saint Louis, the team tied for first place, with the Billikens coming to town for a weekend series.
And with two of the league’s aces dueling on the mound Friday, GW crept a game closer to first place Friday with a 6-4 win over the league’s top scoring offense, as the Colonials prepare to host the A-10 Championship over Memorial Day Weekend.
“They’re going to play the game, whether you put pressure on yourself or not. Pressure is just a self-prophecy,” head coach Gregg Ritchie said. “I’m really proud of these guys – they didn’t come out with the jitter type thing.”
Junior Bobby LeWarne (8-4) out-dueled Billiken redshirt senior Clay Smith (8-2) giving up just two hits to Smith’s eight, and a two-out, three-run rally in the fifth led GW to win the weekend opener.
Saint Louis threatened in the eighth, scoring two runs to tighten up the game. LeWarne started the inning with 98 pitches to his name and only lasted a few more. After the leadoff hitter reached, LeWarne gave up a double down the line to the nine-hole hitter to allow his first run of the game.
GW then brought in senior setup man Craig LeJeune with the conference’s top hitter, who was batting .405 entering the game, coming to the plate. LeJeune also gave up an RBI double, but then battled back from a 3-1 count to get the final out of the inning on strikes. He returned for the ninth in lieu of the nation’s saves leader, sophomore Eddie Muhl, to save Muhl’s arm for the series, and gave up two runs before closing out the game.
Saint Louis was averaging over seven runs per game in conference play, but giving up close to five. The Colonials entered the game 4-2 in games where they scored five runs or more.
“You got to realize you have to score five or six,” Ritchie said. “So you try to make a lineup that may even incite less defense – but we’re all about pitching and defense – so we still got to stay with that part of it.”
The Colonials scored the first three runs of the game on a two-out rally in the fifth inning, sparked by a smart coaching decision. After freshman Robbie Metz singled up the middle, Ritchie held sophomore Bobby Campbell from swinging until Metz swiped second – after being burned earlier in the game when the hitters wasted would-be stolen bags by swinging at pitches. Campbell grounded the next ball back up the middle to score the first run of the game.
“You can’t get frustrated,” Campbell said. “You just have to stay with the plan and execute, like we did in the fifth and later on in the game.”
Sophomore Andrew Selby would double in one run and sophomore Colin Gibbons-Fly would drive in another. GW held Selby from scoring on a Gibbons-Fly base hit to right after the speedy sophomore Joey Bartosic was hosed at the plate by the right fielder in the inning prior.
As well as the offense came up in the clutch, so did LeWarne with his defense behind him. In a typical trouble inning for Iowan, LeWarne walked the lead off batter in the seventh inning but then forced a fielder’s choice and a double play to end the threat.
In the fifth, senior Ryan Xepoleas pulled off a leap straight out of the movie X-Men at the high wall in right center to prevent a potential RBI, when the game was still scoreless. Xepoleas had been plugged into the lineup, in a platoon situation with freshman Matt Cosentino, because of his ability to cover the gaps in the outfield against a flyball-hitting team.
A swift double play also ended a threat from Saint Louis in the second, after the Billikens hit a hard grounder to short for their first hit of the game.
“It’s huge,” LeWarne said. “Being able to get ground balls, Xepo made a crazy play, I mean without them, we wouldn’t have won.”
The Colonials will head back to the diamond Saturday at 1 p.m. with sophomore Brandon Ritchie on the mound as they continue to jockey for position in the A-10 standings before the conference championship.
