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Ohio Wesleyan 1, Case Reserve 0
Ohio Wesleyan 3, Case Reserve 1
March 28, 2009
![[ Eric McComas ]](../images/mccomas2.jpg)
Senior third baseman Eric McComas (Beverly Hills, Mich./Birmingham Groves) drove in the game's only run in the opener and scored the go-ahead run in the nightcap as Ohio Wesleyan swept a non-conference doubleheader from Case Reserve on Saturday in Cleveland.
The Bishops took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning of the opener as sophomore outfielder Scott Wise (Delaware/Hayes) drew a 1-out walk, moved to second when junior catcher Steve Ruygrok (Centennial, Colo./Cherry Creek) was hit by a pitch, and scored on McComas's single.
That would be enough for junior righthander Matthew Struble (Defiance/Edon), who fired a 5-hit shutout. Struble faced a jam in the first inning when the Spartans put runners at the corners with one out, but struck out Cory Pecoraro and got Steve Bills to ground out to end the threat. After the first, the only Spartan baserunner to get into scoring position was Matt Richards, who doubled with 2 down in the sixth but was stranded there.
Case Reserve's Noah Lieberman allowed the Bishops only 4 hits. After allowing the run in the first inning, he struck out sophomore outfielder Eric Livingston (Delaware/Hayes) and senior outfielder Matt Rhode (Port Clinton) to get out of the inning. Sophomore second baseman Josh Gardner (Youngstown/Boardman) and freshman second baseman James DiBiasio (Westlake) singled with 2 outs in the second, but Lieberman escaped that inning, and after McComas doubled with one out in the third, Liberman retired the last 14 Ohio Wesleyan hitters of the game.
Strubel struck out 4 and did not walk a batter in racking up the shutout.
In the nightcap, the Spartans took a 1-0 lead in the first as Jamal Abed and Richards opened the inning with singles, and infield outs by Chad Mullins and Pecoraro plated Abed with the run.
Ohio Wesleyan tied the game in the fourth as freshman first baseman Nathan Strome (Sidney) walked and Rhode singled. The runners moved to second and third on a wild pitch before Strome scored on a fielder's choice by Gardner.
McComas led off the Bishop sixth by reaching second base on an error by Spartan third baseman Sam Alexander. Strome sacrificed McComas to third, and McComas scored when CWRU shortstop Bobby Marko misplayed Rhode's grounder.
The Bishops added an insurance run in the seventh, with Wise reaching on a 2-out error by Spartan first baseman Peter Zak, taking third on Alexander's fielding error, and scoring on Ruygrok's single.
Freshman lefthander Mason Farr (West Lafayette, Ind.) worked the complete game for the Bishops, allowing 4 hits and striking out 8 while walking 2.
A.J. Boshinski was the starting and losing pitcher for the Spartans.