As the rebuilding process goes, it often seems that the moment after the finish line seems to come into focus, a crushing defeat shows that it’s not quite there yet.
GW ran through six innings of Sunday’s rubber match against Saint Louis with the lead. It was their final Atlantic 10 game of the season, while the rest of the conference concludes next week, and a win would have secured the Colonials a playoff spot.
But a belt-high fastball ahead in the count cost them the game. Freshman Robbie Metz, in relief of junior Jacob Williams who got the spot start ahead of him, gave up the go-ahead home run to the lead off batter in the 10th inning – to lose 6-3 and keep the team’s playoff hopes uncertain.
“First, I didn’t think it was gone,” Metz said. “That’s my worse fear, looking up and seeing it go over the fence. Once I saw that, I just changed my attitude and tried to do better than I did on that pitch.”
It was a shocker to a team that looked poised to pull off the win.
Following a game where they were frustrated by runners left in scoring position, the Colonials got the big hit they’d been looking for from sophomore shortstop Kevin Mahala in the second. He tripled to deep center to score one and then scored himself on a suicide squeeze executed by senior Ryan Xepoleas.
“You want to be clicking when these games mean the most at the end,” Mahala said. “So getting hot is definitely a good feeling right now.”
Williams pitched cleanly, occasionally working around tough spots, but trouble in the seventh ended his day. After a leadoff walk, a wild pitch, a double and a costly misplay by Mahala brought two runs home for Saint Louis to tie the game, Metz came in from playing second base to pitch.
When the bottom of the ninth rolled around, GW sent three batters to the plate, all of whom have spent time batting clean up this year.
The first batter, sophomore Andrew Selby, walked. The second batter, Mahala, bunted him over into scoring position. The third batter, Xepoleas, smoked a liner to the first baseman. Then a fly out ended the inning.
“Baseball. It’s baseball. Keep moving forward and keep pushing forward, that’s it,” head coach Gregg Ritchie said. “Played a great game, played a great series. We played really good series the last three series against the top three teams. Just really good. Came up short.”
Baseball it was. The nation’s leading closer couldn’t even hold the game. Coming in relief of Metz in the 10th, sophomore Eddie Muhl gave up a grounder up the middle for a seeing-eye-single and then a pop up dropped in front of the charging sophomore Joey Bartosic in left field. Two runs scored on those two hits, also known as line drives in the box score.
The Colonials hit the ball hard in the final frame, but couldn’t find any holes. They would leave six on base in the game.
“We hit the ball well today,” Metz said. “They just got lucky.”
GW will face William & Mary in non-conference play at the end of the upcoming week, including a day-night doubleheader on Thursday, in preparation for a potential night game in the playoffs.
They will have their conference bye-week over the weekend, while the rest of the A-10 logjam sitting just above .500 jockeys for playoff positioning. At 13-10 and aided by some tiebreakers it’s uncertain, but seems likely, that the Colonials will remain in the top seven and return to the A-10 Championship. The team missed the playoffs last year after making it for the first time in seven years the year prior.
“If we’re in, we’re in,” Ritchie said. “If we’re not, then we had a hell of a season. Like I said, it’s a rebuild. Whatever we do is gravy. Just keep pushing forward. Keep going. It’s always baseball.”
