On Wednesday evening, the Cardinal baseball team traveled to Springfield, Mass. and dominated Springfield College on the diamond. The men scored eight runs in the first inning and cruised to a 19-3 victory. Pitcher Brett Yarusi ’12 was credited with the win after pitching seven strong innings. Michael Cifuentes ’10 and Jonathan Sargent ’09 followed on the mound, each pitching an inning.

The explosive first inning included 11 batters, eight runs, six hits and a grand slam. Drew Dominguez ’09 started off the frame with a single, and the team never looked back. Dominguez also hit a grand slam during his second at-bat of the inning, driving in Kyle Weiss ’12, Jeff Bizinkauskas ’10 and Jonathan Sheehan ’11. The Cardinals scored four more in the third and one more in the fourth before Springfield made it onto the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth. Wesleyan put away the game with four more runs in the seventh and two in the ninth. 

The Cards had 19 total hits, with Dominguez, Brice Kelly ’10, Justin Freres ’11 and Julian Sonnenfeld ’11 combining for 13 of them. The quartet also combined to drive in 12 runs. On the mound, Yarusi allowed 10 hits and two earned runs and recorded six strikeouts. Cifuentes struck one man out of the three batters he faced while Sargent allowed one hit.

Dominguez was recognized as NESCAC Pitcher of the Week after recording a pair of wins against Hamilton on Sunday. He is the third Cardinal to be honored this year, after Sonnenfeld and Dusty Mones ’09 received NESCAC laurels a few weeks ago.

Wesleyan travels up to Maine this weekend to face off against Bates. With one game on Saturday and a doubleheader on Sunday, the Cards have a chance to get the best of a NESCAC rival in the interdivisional series. The men return home for a game against Eastern Connecticut State University on Wednesday afternoon, but the true test will be seen next weekend against Williams. The Cards will play a doubleheader at home against the Ephs on the 25th, followed by a single game in Williamstown the following day.