The softball team moved into first place in the NESCAC West over the weekend, taking two out of three against Little Three rival Williams to improve to 6-3 in the division. Wesleyan took the opener 5-4 and the nightcap of Sunday’s doubleheader 6-4 to bookend an 18-14 defeat in the middle game—one in which the Cardinals trailed 17-0 in the third inning but battled back to make it a three-run game.

Wesleyan entered the series having won three of its past four against the Ephs, including a 13-3 victory in the 2008 NESCAC Championship. Wesleyan continued its winning ways on Friday with a 5-4 come-from-behind victory. After Williams took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, the Cardinals battled back to knot the score in the bottom of the inning. Pitcher Meaghan Dendy ’10 singled to start the inning and was sacrificed to second by Molly O’Connell ’09. Back-to-back singles by Taylor Zavadsky ’10 and Talia Bernstein ’11 scored Dendy and gave Wesleyan runners on first and second. Following a fielder’s choice, Alexis Kral ’12 hit a ball that was mishandled by the Williams second baseman, allowing Zavadsky to score.

Wesleyan moved in front 3-2 in the fourth on an RBI double by Sam Epstein ’12, but Williams regained the lead in the top of the fifth. Wesleyan rallied again, however, to retake the lead in the sixth. Following a leadoff single by Kral, Chrissy Bello ’12 hit a fly ball that was misjudged by the Williams center fielder, falling in for a two-base error. Williams retired the next two batters, but Dendy delivered a clutch two-out single up the middle to score Kral and Bello and give Wesleyan a 5-4 lead it would not relinquish.

“Before I got up to bat, I was thinking I should focus on making solid contact and be more selective with pitch choice,” Dendy said. “I also had confidence that if I wasn’t able to get a hit, then my team would be able to come through in the bottom of the seventh.”

Dendy also went all seven innings on the mound, scattering eight hits and striking out five for her sixth win. The come-from-behind victory was Wesleyan’s third in its last five NESCAC West contests; the Cardinals rallied from a 3-0 fourth-inning deficit against Middlebury last weekend and a 3-1 sixth-inning hole against Amherst the previous week.

“Much of our team’s character stems from team dynamics,” Dendy said. “I think that our come-from-behind wins say a lot about our resilience as a team and how much we thrive when challenged.”

Due to heavy rain on Saturday, the doubleheader was postponed to Sunday. Williams’ bats showed no signs of rust, however, as the Ephs pounded out 13 hits in the first three innings and moved out to a 17-0 lead. Wesleyan, however, scored four in the third, three in the fourth, and seven in the fifth to cut Williams’ lead to 17-14. The Cardinals would get no closer, however, as Williams tacked on another run in the sixth and held on for the 18-14 final. Eight of the Cardinals’ starters reached base in the game, with O’Connell recording a 3-for-4, three-run, four-RBI afternoon.

Wesleyan rebounded, however, with a 6-4 victory in the rubber game. After Williams took a 1-0 lead in the second, Wesleyan used a five-run outburst in the third to take the lead for good. Following a leadoff single by Epstein, who was sacrificed to second, Dendy singled under the glove of the Williams third baseman to tie the game. A pair of walks loaded the bases for Bernstein, who drove in Dendy and O’Connell with a go-ahead single. Following a groundout, an infield single by Kral scored Zavadsky, and a double by Bello brought home Bernstein for the Cardinals’ fifth run.

Williams cut the lead to 5-3 in the sixth, but Wesleyan added an insurance run in the bottom of the frame for a three-run cushion. Williams again cut it to 6-4 in the seventh, but Dendy recorded a pair of strikeouts to slam the door. The win was Dendy’s second complete game of the series and improved her career record against the Ephs to 4-0. Dendy has also reached base in all 24 games this season and hit safely in 22.

Wesleyan now sits at 6-3 in the NESCAC West, with only a three-game series against last-place Hamilton remaining. The Cardinals will venture out of conference this week with a Thursday doubleheader against Eastern Connecticut followed by a Saturday twinbill at Brandeis.