Riding a three-game winning streak following a sweep of Little Three rival Williams, Wesleyan baseball came up short in an offensive bonanza at Western Connecticut. Pitchers from both sides got tagged in the intrastate showdown, but the Cardinals crumbled late in the game. A six-run eighth inning put Western Conn up for good, and Wesleyan’s streak broke in an 11-6 road loss.

The Redbirds got on top in the game’s first frame, as Matt Sorkin ’15 reached on an error to lead off the game and came around to score. Starting pitcher Derek Lukin ’13 gave up his first of three earned runs on the day in the bottom of the second, allowing Western Conn to knot the score 1-1. In the top of the fourth, Steve Moran ’13 drove home Guy Davidson ’16 with a single, and Sam Goodwin-Boyd ’15 doubled and later scored himself to put Wes up 4-1 midway through the fifth.

That’s when the scoring output really took off. Western Conn put up another couple runs on Lukin to chase him from the game, then smacked Jimmy Hill ’14 for two more on as many hits; Hill left the game without recording a single out. By the time reliever Sam Elias ’15 got the Cards out of the inning, Western Conn had taken a 5-4 lead. Though Elias got through the next two innings unscathed, he got battered in the bottom of the eighth. Only one of the six runs Elias allowed was earned—two Wes errors absolved him of the rest—but he let up four hits as Western Conn blew the game wide open.

Elias was saddled with the loss for the game, dropping his record to 0-2 this season. Heading into the eighth, he was on pace to pick up his first win of the season, as Wes put four more runs on the board after Elias salvaged the fifth inning. Head captain Chris Bonti ’13 singled one home to start the scoring in the sixth, and a double off the bat of Andrew Yin ’15 drove in two more. Jonathan Dennett ’15 doubled Bonti in the top of the eighth, and Wesleyan held an 8-5 lead before the wheels came off. As the Cards attempted to rally back in the ninth, Ben Hoynes ’15 got on with a single, but Western Conn shut Wes down without much trouble to preserve the cushy win.

The loss drops Wesleyan to 14-9-1 on the season, though the Cardinals remain at 5-1 in NESCAC play. Wes gets back in action on Sunday, April 14 on Dresser Diamond as the Cards host conference rival Bates in a doubleheader.