With little leaguers lining the stands Saturday afternoon at Tucker Field, youthful inconsistency may have rubbed off on GW pitchers – evidenced by walks and mental mishaps.
GW’s starting pitcher, sophomore Brandon Ritchie, did not make it out of the first inning after walking in the first two runs of the game. Saint Louis wouldn’t score more than one run in any other inning, but they tacked on in three other frames against five other GW pitchers, aided by seven walks and two unearned runs from GW errors, to take the second game of the series 5-2.
Entering the day, GW had a chance to clinch their final Atlantic 10 series of the regular season, after winning the day prior in a duel of team aces. The Colonials sat in fourth place, with Saint Louis and two others in a three-way tie for first place, one game behind in the loss column.
At the close, GW fell to 13-9 in conference in a game that was never quite out of their reach. The team left eight runners on base and could could never come up with enough big hits.
“We played a very subpar, mediocre game today,” head coach Gregg Ritchie said. “It was somewhat ugly, especially on the mound. And we’re sitting there with a chance to win it in the last inning.”
After Brandon Ritchie left the game with two outs in the first inning, junior Randy Dalrymple came in relief for three innings, giving up one run on two hits and two walks.
“I wasn’t happy with guys coming in and throwing ball one, ball two, ball three,” Ritchie said. “That was excruciating.”
The fourth started with a questionable safe call at first followed by a single to center that led to a bunt by the Billikens. Dalrymple fielded it but could not make a play on the ball. The next batter hit a comebacker to him at the mound and he threw home for the force out to get one.
The following batsman did the same but, this time, Dalrymple decided to try to turn two by spinning and throwing to second, instead of going home. GW could only get the one out and the third run of the game scored.
Sophomore Jordan Sheinkop came in relief, throwing 1.2 innings, giving up one run on three hits and one walk. After the first two batters of the inning singled up the middle, Saint Louis’ leadoff hitter, the speedy Michael Bozarth, bunted down the third baseline. Sheinkop fielded the ball, looked at third base and then lost his opportunity to throw to first. The one run in the inning would score on a fielder’s choice, with freshman Kevin Hodgson on the mound.
Junior Luke Olson came in relief for Hodgson in the seventh after a batter reached on an error by sophomore Eli Kashi. The next batter ripped a sinking liner to right field in front of sophomore Andrew Selby, bouncing past him to allow a run to score.
The damage was minimized every inning, but the Colonials were kept at arms length from Saint Louis.
“You don’t want to stand out there for that long, but that shouldn’t damper any team that has any guts,” Ritchie said. “I don’t think that’s what we’re about it. I think we’re about guts. I think that’s why we’ve been so resilient in tough times.”
Down four at the time, GW got the big hit they had been looking for in the sixth inning. With runners on first and second, senior Ryan Xepoleas crushed a ball over the second baseman’s head like the orange soda, quenching the fans’ thirst for a Colonials run after a seven pitch at bat. But they just couldn’t pick up one more big hit to potentially tie the game, never having another good opportunity to scratch a crooked number.
“Our pitchers came in after that and held the game close enough for us to do something. We didn’t execute offensively when we had a chance,” Ritchie said. “That was the biggest thing, beside the pitching.”
The starting rotation will get a mix up Sunday, with junior Jacob Williams getting the start instead of freshman Robbie Metz – who will be available in the bullpen.
