Shannon Welch/Photo Editor
Softball faced Little Three rival Williams this past weekend and collected two important victories against the Ephs in three games. After this weekend, the Cardinals sit atop the NESCAC West leaderboard with a record of 5-1 and an overall record of 16-5. All three games versus the Ephs ended as one-run victories, with the Cardinals taking the first two contests 2-1 and 4-3 before dropping the final game 7-6.
The opening game in the series saw very few hits and highlighted the skilled pitchers for both teams. Last week, Wesleyan pitcher Su Pardo ’16 was named the NESCAC Pitcher of the Week. She responded by improving her record to 7-0—allowing two hits and one unearned run while striking out eight. Williams’ pitcher Emma Harrington was equally impressive, only allowing six hits and two runs while striking out the Cardinals 12 times.
Williams’ only run was scored in the fourth inning off of an error to tie the game 1-1. However, the tie was short-lived as the Cardinals scored their second and final run in the top of the fifth. Allee Beatty ’13 crossed the plate to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead on an error by the Ephs, which was all Wes needed to pull out the victory.
Beatty and Tori Redding ’13 both had two hits in the game. The due combined for four of the six total hits the Cardinals managed in the contest.
In the second and third games of the series, Williams came to Middletown on Saturday, April 6 for a doubleheader. The first of the two games opened slowly, with neither team notching a run until the fifth inning. By the Cardinals’ fifth time to bat, the team had found a weakness in Williams’ pitching. Wesleyan tallied four hits and scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Ashley McLaren ’13 singled up the middle, recording two RBIs and allowing Redding and Beatty to score. Jill Gately ’15 added to the hit parade with her RBI single to right, bringing home McLaren. The inning gave the Cardinals a 3-0 edge and the momentum they needed to finish off the first game of the doubleheader. Laura Getchell ’14 earned the win on the mound, improving her record on the season to 6-3. Getchell only allowed three hits while striking out seven in the contest.
In the third and final game of the series, the Ephs took an early 3-0 lead in the first inning, which then doubled to 6-0 after two trips to the plate. The Cardinals were able to cut into the deficit in the bottom half of the second, scoring two to make it a 6-2 game. Hits from Amanda Roosa ’16 and Amy Lindland ’14 put two runners on base, which was all Alex Sarkowsky ’14 needed to drive them in with a simple groundout to second base.
Wesleyan continued to cut into the deficit in the bottom of the fifth, as the Cards were able to capitalize on three Ephs errors when Gately smacked a pitch to left center field. Those Williams miscues accounted for three of the four runs Wesleyan tallied in that frame, knotting the score at six apiece. Even so, Williams made up for its mistakes in the field with work at the plate, quickly regaining the lead and avoiding the sweep by beating Wes 7-6.
Beatty extended her hitting streak to 21 games with her work against Williams. This accomplishment ties the 2008 school record set by Meghan Dendy. Beatty has a .500 batting average and leads the nation in runs scored with 39.
Next up, Wesleyan faces two non-conference foes with a doubleheader versus Western New England University on Tuesday, April 9 and a home game versus Western Connecticut on Thursday, April 11.