After a 14-6 victory over Westfield State College on Tuesday, the Cardinal baseball team is looking towards this crucial weekend that will determine whether they make the postseason. The Cardinals’ fate is not only in their own hands; Amherst must lose twice this weekend in addition to Wesleyan beating Middlebury. The Lord Jeffs are squaring off against Hamilton and Williams. After Saturday’s vital game in Vermont, the men travel to Trinity College to take on the undefeated Bantams in a doubleheader on Sunday. The Cards hope that their midweek victory will propel them into this weekend. 

On Tuesday, the team had a total of 22 hits, scoring three runs in the first inning and never looking back. Drew Dominguez ’09 led off with a single and advanced to second on a Julian Sonnenfeld ’11 groundout. Derek Dettorre ’11 then walked, and Dominguez stole third base. Both players scored on Brice Kelly’s ’10 triple. Phil Rosenblum ’12 smacked a sacrifice fly that brought in Kelly before the inning ended on a groundout. The Cards scored five more in the second and Dominguez, Sonnenfeld, Dettorre, Kelly and Rosenblum were all involved once again, along with Jeff Bizinkauskas ’10. 

Westfield responded in the fifth and sixth innings with two runs in each frame to halve the Wesleyan lead. The Cards came back with four runs in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 12-4. Rosenblum and Alex Meadow ’12 both hit two-run homeruns. Both teams scored twice in the eighth, and the game ended 14-6. The Cards got pitching efforts from Jon Sargent ‘09, James Hounsell ’11, Dan Thomsen ’12, and Chris Helsel ’09. Combined, they allowed nine hits, walked ten, and stuck out nine. Sargent recorded the win to improve to 4-0 on the year. 

Dominguez added three hits to bring his season total to 53. He is three away from tying the school record he set last season. He currently has 167 career hits and is tied for third all-time at Wesleyan.

This weekend will determine whether Wesleyan is in the playoff mix or on the outside looking in. The action starts at Middlebury at 3 p.m. on Saturday.