This post was written by Hatchet reporter Pete Hoegler.
Last weekend, baseball was on its biggest high of the season: on Friday night, junior Bobby Campbell sealed the six-run comeback with a walk-off home run; on Saturday, head coach Gregg Ritchie picked up his 100th career win; and on Senior Day, Luke Olsen closed the door in a four inning effort to seal the sweep and an Atlantic-10 Tournament berth.
Going into the weekend, the Colonials and the Billikens were tied for fourth place in the Atlantic 10, so Ritchie’s ball club knew this matchup was going to be crucial for their seeding placement, but again, GW met its match.
In one of the most disappointing series’ of the season, GW was outscored by Saint Louis 28–10 and killed any sort of momentum heading into playoffs.
So what happened?
Truth be told, GW, with its with streaky hitting and inconsistent pitching, has been doing this all season.
The 2015-2016 A-10 campaign began with five straight wins followed by a 3-3 stretch against rivals Dayton and VCU. Then, after getting swept by Fordham, GW came back with a sweep of their own against Richmond at The Tuck.
Here late in the season, GW’s inconsistencies have finally come back to bite them. Capturing a league title, now as the No. 7 seed in the A-10 Championship this week, just got tougher.
Saint Louis, as one of the most potent offenses in the league, is especially tough to beat at home and they clearly showed that this series.
On Sunday, they only allowed GW’s starter, sophomore Brady Renner, to record one out before getting pulled after allowing four runs on two hits. Junior reliever Shane Sweeney could not keep Saint Louis’ offense at bay either, giving up four runs in 2.2 innings. Before GW’s offense could even blink, they were already down 8–0.
Again in Game 1 on Friday, though the Colonials got on the board early, GW’s pitching could not quell Saint Louis at the plate. The Billikens plated three runs on four hits in the bottom of the fourth to take a 3–1 lead then added a pair of runs in the fifth before breaking the game open with a six-run eighth inning to build an 11–1 lead.
On Saturday, the same script was followed as GW dug themselves in yet another incredible hole as senior Jacob Williams got knocked around a bit in the second inning, allowing five runs. Though GW plugged away at the lead, the Billikens’ offense was relentless and added two more runs in the seventh which put the game out of reach for the visiting Colonials.
One of the bright spots in this otherwise dismal series was junior Joey Bartosic, who went 9-13 against Saint Louis–registering back-to-back four hit games and blasting his first home-run of his career for his team-leading 26th multiple-hit game of the season.
Behind only sophomore Mark Osis in batting average with a .353 mark, Bartosic has been the ideal leadoff hitter for the Colonials. With an on-base percentage of .381, he seems to always be part of GW’s comebacks or blowouts, and the Colonials are going to need him to keep up his hot-streak in the Bronx.
After getting swept, GW (12-12 A-10) is locked as the No. 7 seed in the A-10 Championship, and since the Colonials last won a title in 2002, no team lower than a five-seed has won the championship.
GW takes on No. 2 VCU Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in the opening round of postseason play.
