Matthew Johnson

Justin McDowell and Matt Barnes tossed back-to-back complete-game shutouts, highlighting The College of Wooster's North Coast Athletic Conference East Division sweep of Oberlin College Saturday as the Fighting Scots triumphed 7-0 and 11-0 on a brisk afternoon at Oberlin, Ohio.

In the opener, McDowell threw a four-hitter and struck out 10 during an 83-pitch outing to lead Wooster (23-7, 7-3 NCAC East). The only time Oberlin (17-11, 7-3 NCAC East) threatened offensively came during the very first inning, putting runners on the corners with just one out. A pickoff and a strikeout later, McDowell got out of the jam and cruised from there, with the help of three double plays.

At the plate, the Scots took advantage of a second-inning error in scoring three unearned runs. Shane Swearingen and Stu Beath each recorded RBI singles, with Beath's plating two for the 3-0 lead.

Wooster started pulling away in the third inning, keyed by Zack Vesco as his one-out triple scored one run and he would come home on the ensuing play to make it 5-0. Vesco played a role in tacking on two more during the seventh with an RBI single, followed by a sacrifice fly via Michael Wellstead.

The second game played out similarly. Barnes gave up just three hits and also struck out 10, but had to throw 112 pitches to notch his shutout. Two of the singles off of Barnes were bunts and the only time the Yeomen were even close to scoring came in the fifth when Matt Groezinger had to throw out a runner at the plate to end the threat.

The Scots' offense again got going in the second inning with the help of an error by the Yeomen. Following the error which led off the inning, Greg Van Horn beat out an infield single and they both advanced a base on a wild pitch. Next, Vesco drove home one on a sacrifice fly and Van Horn scored on Swearingen's RBI groundout for a 2-0 advantage.

Vesco had additional RBI in the fourth and sixth, sandwiched around a Chris Constantine run-producing single in the fifth. Vesco's second RBI single was followed later by a Luke Sutton sacrifice fly that made it 6-0 at the end of six, and Wooster blew the game wide open during the seventh, with the big hits being a two-run single from Groezinger and a two-run homer for Van Horn.

The offensive star of the day was Vesco, who went 5-for-6 with five RBI, while Beath and Van Horn both produced 4-for-8, two-RBI days.

The two teams will play another NCAC divisional doubleheader on Sunday, starting at 1 p.m.