On a blustery day at Dresser Diamond, the baseball team (15-5, 3-0 NESCAC) won its seventh straight game on April 9, beating Western Connecticut State (9-7) in a crisply played 3-0 victory. The Cardinals relied on the right arm of Chris Law ’14 (2-1, 3.52 ERA) to put this one in the win column, and he delivered. The senior threw seven shutout innings in relief, allowing only three hits, striking out four, and walking none to earn the victory.
Peter Rantz ’16 (1-1, 3.42 ERA) started on the hill for Wesleyan and pitched a scoreless top of the first. The Cardinals struck first in the bottom half of the inning, taking an early 1-0 lead after an RBI single by Donnie Cimino ’15. The junior center fielder and season hit-record holder is leading the team with a .392 batting average.
“Just been trying to get my pitch,” Cimino said about why his approach has been so successful this season. “Being patient. Just being selective, looking for fastballs early in the count. And just staying alive late in the count to give myself a chance.”
Rantz started the top of the second with a fly out, but then hit a batter and gave up a single, getting the early hook from Head Coach Mark Woodworth. Law came in and made quick work of the Colonials, ending the inning with a ground out and fly out.
In the bottom of the second, the Cards took a 2-0 lead after Nick Miceli ’17 laced a single to center for an RBI. Wesleyan couldn’t capitalize after loading the bases, however, as a double play off the bat of Ellis Schaefer ’17 killed the rally.
Wesleyan continued building its picket fence on the scoreboard by tacking on one more run in the bottom of the third, courtesy of a sacrifice fly by Jonathan Dennett ’15.
That would be all the scoring the Cardinals would need, as Law was in total control for the rest of the contest. Law retired the first eight batters he faced, 21 out of 26 overall, and didn’t allow his first hit (which was a borderline error) until there were two outs in the sixth.
When asked about what was working so well for him, Law said, “Throwing both the fastball and the curveball for strikes. Didn’t work in too many changeups today. But kept them off balance using fastball-curveball.”
Woodworth couldn’t have been happier about Law’s strong showing.
“It was fantastic,” Woodworth said. “I’m so proud of him. I’m so happy for him. A senior, whose been doing an amazing job as a leader, and he got his chance. Just really a dominant performance.”
Law pitched into the ninth and retired the first batter with the help of an amazing grab by his leftfielder Miceli. The ball was scorched into the gap for what looked like would be a sure double until Miceli came flying in, laying himself out full extension for the web gem.
Not even Miceli thought he was going to get to the ball.
“No,” Miceli said when asked if he thought he had any chance at catching it. “I was just running and trying to get as close as I could and just flung my body at it.”
Law ran out of steam, however, giving up a single and hitting a batter, bringing out Woodworth to make a pitching change. Law left to a nice ovation from the home crowd, and in came Sam Elias ’15 (1-0, 3.94 ERA) to close the game out.
In a pressure situation, with the tying run at the plate, the tall righty looked calm, cool, and collected. Elias got the first batter he faced to pop out and sealed the deal by blowing away the next batter to pick up his second save of the season and give Wesleyan the win.
You wouldn’t have known it by looking at him, but Elias admitted to feeling the nerves at times.
“Honestly, yeah I get a little nervous,” Elias said. “I feel the butterflies. A lot of times when I’m warming up, I got to take a deep breath and calm myself down. But I’m confident in my stuff and I know that no matter what the situation is, I can get out of it. It feels great to keep the winning streak alive.”
Woodworth explained the reasons behind Wesleyan’s seven-game winning streak.
“We’re playing one pitch at a time,” Woodworth said. “We’re playing really nice defense and our pitchers are really starting to hit their stride, and I’m really pumped about that.”
Cimino echoed the coach’s statement.
“Pitchers have been pitching great,” Cimino said. “We’ve been playing good defense. Good defense and pitching win games. We’re just rolling right now.”
Wesleyan will look to keep on rolling against Williams (7-7, 4-2 NESCAC) this weekend in its first Little Three meeting of the season. The opening game of the series will be played at home on Friday, April 11 and will conclude with a doubleheader at Williams on Saturday, April 12.