On Wednesday night, the Cardinal baseball team traveled to Elms College in Chicopee, Mass. to challenge the Blazers on the field. The Cardinals captured a commanding 7-1 win, as Jon Sargent ’09 came to the mound in the fifth with the game tied 1-1 and pitched five perfect innings to secure the victory. Solid hitting also contributed to the comeback win, as Wesleyan went down 1-0 in the second before battling back.
At the top of the fifth inning, the Cards were able to take advantage of a Blazer error as Brice Kelly ’10 reached first. Jeff Bizinkauskas ’10 singled to left center, sending Kelly to second, before Jon Sheehan ’11 laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the two players. Alex Meadow ’12 then hit an RBI single as Kelly crossed the plate for Wesleyan. The Cards took the lead in the sixth on Kelly’s RBI double, but the seventh inning proved to be the clincher.
Drew Dominguez ’09 started off the four-run inning with a single before Julian Sonnenfeld ’11 singled and advanced to second on the throw, sending Dominguez to third. Garrett Lamborn ’09 was intentionally walked to load the bases. After Derek Dettorre ’11 took a called strike three, Kelly walked to force in a run. Bizinkauskas reached first on an error, bringing Sonnenfeld home with an unearned run for Wesleyan. Sheehan’s single then drove home two more before the inning ended. Elms used four pitchers to try to salvage the inning but to no avail. With one more run in the top of the ninth, the Cardinals sealed off the win, largely made possible by Sargent’s pitching.
Coming in on relief after Mike Barsotti ’12, Brett Yarusi ’12 and Michael Cifuentes ’10 all saw time on the mound, Sargent stepped up and prevented the Blazers from even getting the ball out of the infield. During these perfect five innings, he had six strikeouts and got some help from his infield with seven groundouts, a pop out to third, and a line drive out to second. This total team effort is exactly what Wesleyan looks to exert in every game.
“We got off to a slow start but ended up hitting the ball well, and our pitchers were great all night,” said Meadow. “We are excited for the Hamilton series because we want to sweep them on our home field and put ourselves in a good position in the NESCAC.”
The NESCAC tournament is the final goal, and the team uses it as motivation for every matchup. Still in second in the West division at 3-2, Wesleyan is one game behind Williams, which has played two fewer conference games. This weekend, smack in the middle of campus, the men will take on Hamilton, which is right behind the Cardinals in the third spot with a 1-1 conference record (9-8 overall). If rain does not spoil the affair, Foss Hill will be the place to catch the action on Friday afternoon, with a doubleheader on Saturday.