The Cards made Wee Willie Keeler proud on Tuesday. Wesleyan batters “hit ‘em where they ain’t” against the Elms College Blazers, hitting safely 24 times thanks in large part to seeing-eye grounders, Texas-leaguers, and infield singles. Elms pitchers yielded 15 runs, 10 of which came in the second inning, and no Wesleyan batter recorded less than two hits on the day as the Cards rolled to their 16th victory of the season.
Tuesday’s contest started out promising enough for Elms, as the Blazers reached Wesleyan for two runs in the first inning. Elms starter John Russell managed to limit the Wesleyan offense to one run, courtesy of an RBI infield single by Alex Meadow ’12 which scored Kyle Weiss ’12, who led off with an infield single.
The bottom of the second got ugly fast for the Blazers, as the Cards sent 15 batters to the plate, 10 of whom scored in the 11-hit inning. Nick Gonsalves ’10, who went 3-for-4 and reached base in all five of his plate appearances, started the party by beating out Elms third baseman Brian Marrero’s throw to first. First baseman Joe Giaimo ’11 then rapped a sharply-hit opposite-field single to left, and Chris Bonti ’13 followed with a perfectly executed bunt down the third base line. A Weiss sacrifice fly scored Gonsalves for the tying run, and the Cards never looked back, with Julian Sonnenfeld ’11 belting two doubles in the inning while Giaimo and Bonti both collected another single in their second at-bat.
Tuesday’s game against 4-13 Elms was also an opportunity for Wesleyan’s bullpen, which saw exactly one inning of action last weekend against Middlebury, to get innings and experience. Freshman southpaw Glenn Stowell earned his first career win as he pitched 3.2 innings of two-hit, one-run ball against the Blazers. Kyle Chapman ’13 also pitched well, allowing only one hit in 1.1 innings before wildness led to his replacement on the mound by Giaimo. Giaimo got the Cards out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth then finished off Elms in the ninth to collect the save as Wesleyan defeated the Blazers by a final score of 15-10.
Giaimo, Weiss, Gonsalves, and Sonnenfeld were all offensive standouts on a day in which every Wesleyan starter hit well. Sonnenfeld, whose 4-for-6 day at the plate included three doubles, eclipsed Bill Robinson’s ’03 single-season doubles record of 17. It is the first Wesleyan all-time record eclipsed by Sonnenfeld, who may be on his way to many others. In addition to doubles, the junior is currently on pace to set single-season records in home runs and RBI. Even if his production cools off his senior year, Sonnenfeld is on pace to shatter the career doubles record of 45, as well as surpass the career marks in runs scored, RBI, home runs, and batting average.
The Cardinals’ offense should stay hot as they travel west to Hamilton for a three-game series this weekend. The Continentals are 0-3 in NESCAC play this year, and 4-26 all-time against Wesleyan. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday, while the teams will play two starting at noon Saturday.