SAUGET, Ill. - Webster University Baseball used eight walks, six hit batsman and just four hits, but used another strong starting performance on the mound by fifth-year senior Matt Mulhearn (Chicago Heights, Ill./Marian Catholic) to post an 8-1 win over Fontbonne University in the first game of a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader here Sunday afternoon on Senior Day at GCS Credit Union Ballpark. 

Prior to Sunday's game, the Gorloks honored their 12 seniors that are not expected to return for the 2022 season and the seniors that were recognized Mulhearn, pitcher Jake Anderson (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook), pitcher Sean Beaver (San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch), pitcher Garrett Davis (Geneva, Ill./Elgin CC), All-American first baseman Kyler Kent (Pottsboro, Texas/Pottsboro), infielder Jake Knoebel (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield East), outfielder Adam Lovell (Lafayette, Ind./Saint Joseph's College), pitcher Andrew Padilla (Burbank, Ill./Reavis), infielder Kellen Quigley (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) and designated hitter A.J. Smith (DuQuoin, Ill./DuQuoin). 

Mulhearn pitched eight scoreless innings in Sunday's first game and has now gone 16 consecutive innings without allowing a run since allowing two runs in the top of the ninth inning against No. 1 ranked WashU on April 11. Against the Griffins, Mulhearn allowed just four hits and struck out 11 in his 97 pitch outing to move to 8-1 on the year. Mulhearn has now recorded double digit strikeouts in five of his nine starts and hasn't walked a batter in five of his nine starts. 

Sunday's win was a record setter for Mulhearn as he tied both the school and SLIAC record for career wins with 30. The 2019 All-American is now tied for that mark in career wins with former Gorlok Isaac Behme, who won 30 games as a Gorlok from 2012-15. Mulhearn is now 30-15 in his career as a Gorlok.

The eight shutout innnings also lowered Mulhearn's season ERA to 0.94.

Mulhearn would get all the offense he would need in the third inning as the Gorloks scored a run without the benefit of a hit against Fontbonne ace hurler Luke Summers. In the inning, fifth-year senior centerfielder Aron Hopp (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln College) drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a passed ball, reached third on bunt by Lovell and scored on a groundout off the bat of freshman leftfielder R.J. LaRocco (San Diego, Calif./Point Loma). 

Summers (2-3) struggled with his control in Sunday's start against the Gorloks as he threw 110 pitches in his six innings of work and would walk five and hit two batters, while also just allowing two hits and two earned runs and adding seven strikeouts to his SLIAC record-setting total. 

The Fontbonne senior hurler would hold the Gorloks hitless through the first three innings, before Kent broke up Summers' no-hit bid with a lead off single to open the fourth inning. Kent would eventually reach third in the inning on a stolen base and a groundout, but would be stranded at third after Summers struck out third-year sophomore second baseman Mitch Daniels (Columbia, Ill./Columbia) to end the inning and keep the score a 1-0 in Webster's favor.

Webster would score a second run in fifth without a hit as Summers would walk two, hit one and uncork a wild pitch as Lovell brought home the run on his bunt up the third base line that allowed Hopp to score after he drew walk earlier in the inning. 

The Gorloks lead grew to 3-0 in the sixth inning after Kent hit a lead-off homer over the fence in right off of Summers. The homer was the second this season for Kent and 15th of his career, which is 10th on the school's all-time chart. The homer was just the second allowed this season by Summers, who has been the SLIAC Pitcher of the Year the past two seasons. 

Webster broke the game open in the seventh as they sent 11 hitters to the plate and scored five runs off of Fontbonne reliever Jake Jump, who replaced Summers on the mound to open the seventh. In the seventh, Hopp led off with a double, moved to third on a wild pitch and after Lovell and LaRocco were hit by pitches to load the bases, Kent was hit by a pitch to score Hopp for the first run. The next hitter, Smith, would draw a bases loaded walk from Jump to make it 5-0. The walk to chased Jump from the game and Fontbonne brought Mike Jacobson into the game and the first batter he faced, third-year sophomore catcher Zach Goodman (Greenwood Village, Colo./Arapahoe) hit a sacrifice fly to deep center to give WU a 6-0 lead. With Daniels at the plate, Jacobson unloaded a wild pitch that allowed another run to score and after Daniels walked and fourth-year junior shortstop Matt Staker (El Cajon, Calif./Saint Augustine) was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Quigley would deliever a pinch hit RBI single to short to complete the scoring in the inning.

Mulhearn would then complete his day in the top of the eighth as retired the Griffins in order, including striking out the final two hitters he faced. 

The Griffins would score a run in the ninth off of Padilla as he allowed three straight one out singles with the latter one being an RBI single by Luke Meixner. Padilla would pitch the ninth and allowed three hits and one, while not walking or striking out a batter. 

Kent had two of Webster's four hits in the game and also had 2 RBI. 

LaRocco and Hopp drew two walks each against the Griffins pitching. 

Fontbonne had seven hits, including two by Braeden Dobbs.

Webster left eight runners on base and turned a double play on defense, while Fontbonne left five runners on base and also turned a double play. 

The two teams were scheduled to play a second game on Sunday that began at around 6:15 p.m.