Luke Sutton

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster held off one comeback bid by Case Western Reserve University, hanging on for a 13-8 victory in game two of the teams' doubleheader Saturday at a warm and windy Art Murray Field, but the opener saw the Spartans rally with four consecutive two-out hits during the seventh inning, scoring four runs in the process and leading to a 7-5 win.

Wooster (16-4) had built a 5-1 lead through five innings of that first game. Offensively, the Scots opened with back-to-back doubles from Matthew Johnson and Luke Sutton, and the latter scored on a groundout, giving the hosts a 2-1 advantage after one.

Two doubles in the third inning also helped put two runs on the board. Johnson again led off the frame with a two-bagger and after a walk to Sutton, Stu Beath drove them both home on his sixth double this spring, making it 4-1.

Sutton was part of Wooster's fifth tally, too, as he delivered a sacrifice fly during the fourth.

The four-run cushion seemed enough with ace Justin McDowell on the hill, but Case Western Reserve (11-13) chipped away with a couple of runs, one of which was unearned, in the top of the sixth.

The Scots still were ahead 5-3 with two outs and a runner on first. Down to their last out, the Spartans managed back-to-back singles to load the bases and then Chad Mullins cleared them with a double to straightaway centerfield. They also tacked on an insurance run.

Case Western Reserve's ace, Zach Fry, finished off Wooster in the seventh, yielding just a single that frame. Overall, he gave up the five runs on nine hits and three walks while improving to 5-1.

McDowell suffered his first loss (4-1). Two of the runs off of him were unearned, and he allowed eight hits and three walks.

The nightcap started slowly as the Scots tallied one in the second, accounting for the only score of the first three innings.

After the Spartans tied it up on a Matt Keen solo homer to left-center – his second of the day – in the fourth, Wooster answered with three runs during the bottom of that frame. The Scots took advantage of an error and then Sutton and Johnson each delivered RBI singles, adding up to a 4-2 lead.

Case Western Reserve pulled within one in the top of the fifth, only to see Wooster produce six runs during the home half. Matt Groezinger crushed one offering over the centerfield fence for a two-run homer and that was followed by a Greg Van Horn triple into the right-field corner. He scored on Derek Wyman's single. Sutton would later add an RBI double and then two more unearned runs came in.

That gave the Scots a 10-2 cushion entering the sixth, however, the Spartans would not give in. They produced a four spot in the sixth, highlighted by Peter Zak's three-run dinger, to pull within four. Wooster, though, sealed the win with three runs during the bottom of the frame, including a pinch-hit, two-run single by Chris Constantine.

Tyler Fugate picked up the win (3-1), working 5.1 innings. He gave up five runs on eight hits, but didn't issue any free passes and struck out three.

The Scots' leading hitter of the day was Van Horn, who combined to go 4-for-8, while Johnson (3-for-6), Sutton (3-for-6 with four RBI), Beath (3-for-7), Groezinger (3-for-8), and Constantine (3-for-5) notched three base knocks apiece.

Brett Ossola of Case Western Reserve paced everybody at the plate with a 5-for-8 effort.

Wooster returns to action Wednesday afternoon when it hosts John Carroll University (11-7) at 4 p.m.