June 6, 2016
NASHVILLE – Propelled by an early offensive outburst, No. 4-seeded Xavier defeated No. 3-seeded Washington 7-5 in an elimination game at the Nashville Regional on Sunday night.
Xavier (32-29) now moves into the Regional championship against UC-Santa Barbara. The Musketeers will need to defeat the Gauchos twice on Monday in order to advance. The championship game(s) is scheduled for 2 p.m., with the “if-necessary game” slated for 8 p.m.
Xavier leadoff hitter Rylan Bannon led the way in the win over Washington, going 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs. He opened the first inning with a homer to left field and then added a two-run double in the second for Musketeers, who built an early 7-0 lead by scoring two runs in the first, four in the second and one more in the third.
Washington (33-23) got back in the game with two runs in the bottom of the third and three in the fourth to pull within 7-5, but the Huskies didn’t score again the rest of the way.
Daniel Rizzie and Andre Jernigan each had two hits and an RBI for the Musketeers. Joe Gellenbeck and David Morton each drove in a run.
Xavier’s Trey Schramm (4-0) earned the win with four innings of middle relief, allowing three runs, all earned, on four hits. Garrett Schilling picked up his 14th save by working a perfect ninth inning with a pair of strikeouts.
Levi Jordan paced Washington’s offense, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. KJ Brady, Jack Meggs and John Naff drove in one run each for the Huskies.
Washington starter Joe DeMers (3-5) took the loss. He was charged with six runs, all earned, on six hits in 1 2-3 innings.