Returning to Dresser Diamond with a bang, the baseball team (11-5) blew out Elms College (2-9) 15-2 in its home opener on Wednesday, Apr. 2. The Blazers were no match for the Cardinals. Wesleyan was the stronger team just about any way you size it up. The Cards hit better, pitched better, and most notably, fielded better. Elms languished with the leather throughout, committing three errors.

Gavin Pittore ’16 started on the hill for the Cards. He got ahead in counts using his fastball to set the Blazers down in order in the first, setting the tone for Wesleyan. He was the first of eight Cardinal pitchers used in the game. Why so many?

“We have some really good pitching depth, and we want to get all those guys experience,” said Head Coach Mark Woodworth. “And get them as many innings as we can, and that’s one way to do that. Also, it helps get guys primed and ready for the weekend and league games.”

In the bottom of the first, after an Andrew Yin ’15 groundout, Ellis Schaefer ’17 was hit by a pitch; he was the first of four Cardinals beaned by Blazer pitching. Donnie Cimino ’15 followed that up by legging out an infield single, extending his hit streak to 16 out of 16 games played.

After both Cardinal base runners advanced on a passed ball, Sam Goodwin-Boyd ’15 nubbed a slow grounder to the Elms pitcher, who proceeded to throw the ball closer to Olin than his first baseman, allowing two unearned runs to score. Unfortunately for the Blazers, this would be the theme of the day.

In the bottom of the third, Wesleyan got a clutch two-out RBI single off the bat of Jonathan Dennett ’15, who also extended his hit streak to 16 games, to stretch the lead to 3-1. Looking at the final score, the RBI may not seem like much, but at the time, it loomed large.

“I was just looking to make something happen,” Dennett said. “Elms wasn’t really too strong defensively. So as long as I put the ball in play, something could happen. It was a fastball, little in, took it to

right. Just helping my team out.”

It was still tight heading into the bottom of the fourth, but the Cardinals busted the game open with a four-run inning via a hit by pitch, a walk, three hits, and another costly error by the Blazers.

The Cards tacked on another run in the fifth, courtesy of an RBI by Schaefer, and then blew it wide open with a seven-run seventh. Leading 15-1, the win was all but official for Wesleyan. The Cardinals banged out a whopping 17 hits on the day.

Meanwhile, the Cardinal pitchers, all eight of them, were busy piecing together a strong staff outing. All combined, they held the Blazer batters to seven hits and only two runs.

The only Wesleyan hurler to get more than two innings of work was Chris Law ’14. Law looked sharp, mixing in a killer curveball with a solid fastball-changeup combination.

“I try to work every pitch equally,” Law said. “I’m most confident with my fastball, but the fastball is only good because the other pitches are working. They each depend on each other. They were all working pretty well. I threw a lot of curveballs. Got a couple strikeouts on the change.”

Woodworth was pleased with his team’s play.

“I’m thrilled because mid-week games are really tough, people coming out of classes,” he said. “We were really super focused from the first pitch. Everyone: all eight pitchers and everyone on the bench and the guys out on the field. You don’t have that score without coming to play a complete game. For us to do that in the first home game, I’m thrilled.”

Wesleyan opens up NESCAC West play this weekend with a three-game series against Middlebury (2-8, 0-3 NESCAC). The first game will be played on Friday, April 4, followed by a doubleheader on Saturday, April 5.

“I’m excited,” said Dennett. “It’s really nice that we get the first three at home. There’s nothing better than playing at home in front of our fans with the hill full.”

With spring finally here, and his team firing on all cylinders, the coach kept it simple when asked if he was looking forward to the start of NESCAC play.

“I think we’re ready after being in doors all winter,” Woodworth said.