The Webster University baseball team got two terrrific starts in the Gorloks' 9-1 and 5-1 wins over Fontbonne University, on April 17 in Clayton, MO. Josh Fleming and Trey Tigart gave up just one run total in 14 innings pitched between them as the Gorloks extended their win streak to five, while sweeping the three-game series with the Griffins.
Fleming (SO, Columbia, IL/Columbia HS), making just his second appearance of the year, went 6 2/3 innings in the seven inning opener. Fleming gave up eight hits and one run, walked none and struck out nine as he won his first game in 2016. Fleming just missed a complete game as Austin Beccue (SO, Red Bud, IL/Gibault Catholic HS) got the final out of the contest.
Webster got all the offense it needed in the fourth inning as Kyle Uhrich (JR, St. Louis, MO/Webster Groves HS) launched a three-run homer to give the Gorloks a 5-1 lead. It was Uhrich's third home run in two games as he had belted two in Webster's 11-3 win the previous evening. Uhrich, the NCAA III home run leader in 2015 with 17, now has a team-high six on the season and a team-high 32 runs batted in..
Matt Wollnik (JR, Naperville, IL/Nequa Valley HS) and Mike Wick (SO, Bartlett, IL/Bartlett HS) had singled earlier in the inning, with Wollnik scoring on a double by Brandon Smith (JR, Imperial, MO/Seckman HS). Wick and Smith would score ahead of Uhrich on the home run. Wollnik scored the Gorloks' first run in the second after walking and coming around on singles by Mike Golich (SO, Aurora, IL/Aurora West HS) and Wick, who picked up the RBI.
The Gorloks added two more in the fifth on a single by Golich, an RBI double by Wick, and a ground out for an RBI by Uhrich, to make it 7-1. Webster scored its final two runs in the seventh on a double by Wick, a hit by pitch on Smith, and a two-run error.
Wick wound up 5-5 in the game, tying the Webster record for hits in a game with nine other Gorloks, the last being by Max Fecske one year to the day on April 17, 2015 vs. Washington University. Wick had two doubles, two RBIs, and three runs scored while raising his team-high season batting average to .366. Uhrich was 1-5 with the home run and three RBIs, and Smith was 1-2 with a double, RBI, two runs, a walk, and reached on a HBP.
Tigart (JR, Sikeston, MO/Sikeston HS) took the mound in game two and shut the Griffins out for 7 1/3 innings. He allowed just three hits, walked one, and struck out six, as he won his fourth game of the season. Mitch Stefani (SR, Aurora, IL/Waubonsie Valley HS) took over with one down in the eighth, and threw 1 2/3 innings, giving up a run on two hits, and striking out three.
Webster took a 4-0 lead in the second on five hits and a walk. Blake Thomas (SR, Troy, IL/Triad HS) led off with a single and stole second, and Jeff Kammer (SR, Chesterfield, MO/Lafayette HS) singled him home. After a ground out, Dylan Rajkovich (SR, Orland Park, IL/Carl Sandburg HS) singled, with Kammer taking third, and stole second. Wollnik singled, scoring Kammer and Rajkovich. Golich walked, and with two out, a Smith single sent Wollnik home for a 4-0 lead.
A Kammer solo home run in the third, would complete the Webster scoring. It was Kammer's fifth home run of the season. Kammer went 2-3 with the home run, two RBIs, two runs, and a walk. Thomas was 1-3 with two stolen bases and a walk.
Webster is now 10-2 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference West Division and have a conference best 12-4 overall record. The Gorloks are 19-12 overall.
The Gorloks have a home doubleheader on April 22, at GCS Ballpark, with Principia College. Webster has a single game vs. Washington University on April 26 in Clayton, MO.
