Throughout the past six games, the Webster University baseball team has outscored its opponents by a 58-16 margin. The Gorloks have now won 12 straight games after a 4-5 start to the season. Webster now ranks No. 15 in the nation.
Coach Bill Kurich credits both the starting pitching and the offense as a key to his team’s winning streak.
“It was just a matter of time,” Kurich said. “Some guys just start out slow, and we’re getting better at-bats from guys up and down the order.”
In Webster’s three games against Eureka College (Ill.) this week, the Gorloks scored a total of 38 runs. In the first game against the Red Devils on Friday, March 29, senior center fielder Cody Stevenson stole five bases to help lead Webster to a 15-2 rout. Stevenson leads all St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference players with 19 stolen bases thus far.
The next day, the Gorloks continued their domination with two-hit days from junior catcher Ian Foege and junior right fielder Jared Turner. Junior second baseman Taylor Stoulp also had a big day by driving in 6 runs. Stoulp is tied with teammate senior outfielder Mike Rainbolt with 16 RBIs on the year.
The bats didn’t let up in the second game of the March 30 doubleheader either. The Gorloks scored a season-high 18 runs.
The Gorloks have also been performing on the mound as well. In the doubleheader at Westminster College (Mo.) on Tuesday, April 2, Webster pitchers allowed just one earned run across both contests. In the first matchup, sophomore pitcher Isaac Behme pitched 6 innings. Behme gave up 4 hits, struck out 5 and faced 24 batters in the victory.
The second game against the Bluejays was tighter as the Gorloks edged Westminster 3-0. Webster was lead by the performance of junior pitcher Zach Schneider. The left-hander threw 5 innings of scoreless ball. Pitchers junior Brett Buchanan and senior Jason Gray combined to pitch the remainder of the game. The duo allowed 2 hits over 3 innings.
Kurich credits the starters for pitching well and giving the team a great opportunity to win every time they go to the mound. The Gorloks currently have the lowest ERA in the SLIAC at 2.78. Webster has begun its season with an 8-0 record in SLIAC play, and the Gorloks sit atop the SLIAC standings with a 15-5 overall record.
“You take things one game at a time,” Kurich said. “We expect to win every game. … Every time we take the field, we think we’ve got the best team. If we play well, we should win.”
Unlike last season, the Gorloks have been able to keep their players on the field and off the disabled list in 2013. Webster had seven players miss the entire season in 2012.
“Good health and good luck will take you a long way in this game,” Kurich said. “We’ve been healthy to this point — knock on wood — and we’ll hopefully continue down that path.”
Kurich said the team will have to continue to play good baseball in order for them to have success.
Next up, the Gorloks will travel to Washington University (Mo.) for a double-header on Saturday, April 6 at noon. Later in the week, Webster will be back home at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Ill., as they will look to extend their conference win streak to nine straight against Greenville College (Ill.) with a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 9 at 5 p.m.
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