The Cardinal softball team earned two hard-fought victories over the past week, beating Williams College last Friday for only the second time in the program’s history 8-7, and, on Tuesday, taking down the United States Coast Guard Academy 2-1 for the first time since 1997. The Cardinals completed the weekend series against Williams with a doubleheader on Saturday, dropping both games, 10-4 and 4-1. The team now sits at 8-11 overall and 1-2 in the NESCAC West.
The Cards fell behind three times in the opening game of the series against Williams before tri-captain Molly Gaebe ’07 ended the game with a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the sixth. Gaebe also picked up the victory after allowing just two runs off five hits over the final four innings. Meaghan Dendy ’10, Becca Feiden ’08, and Marcia Whitehead ’08 did a solid job setting the table for the middle of the order, combining for five hits and all six of the Cards’ runs.
Coming off the victory Friday afternoon, Wesleyan headed into Saturday’s doubleheader against the Ephs brimming with confidence. The Cards started off the scoring in the bottom of the third when Feiden’s single drove in Dendy, who had tripled in the previous at-bat. Whitehead followed with a single and completed a double-steal with Feiden during Gaebe’s at-bat. Senior leader Gaebe came through with runners in scoring position, doubling home Feiden and Whitehead to give the Cards a 3-0 lead.
Williams took the lead with a three-run outburst in the top of the sixth, spoiling what had been an impressive output by starting pitcher Karla Hargrave ’08. Staying resilient, the Cards used the base-running speed of Alexa David ’10 to tie the score in the bottom of the sixth, marking the second time in two days the Cards tied the score in the final inning. Williams, however, snapped an eight game losing streak when the Cards could not respond to the Ephs’ six-run eighth.
Despite being swept in the doubleheader on Saturday, Wesleyan showed that it will be a team to be reckoned with in the NESCAC West throughout the season.
“At the Williams game, I felt like we just weren’t going to give in,” Dendy said. “We had Tiger night, the night before, and that definitely got the team going. It was really nice to come back to my dorm and find my door decorated with chalk and posters. We had also seen Williams play in California and knew that we could beat them.”
On Tuesday, pitching, defense, and timely hitting earned the Cards the victory over a talented squad from Coast Guard Academy. Dendy got the start on the mound for the Cards, scattering seven hits over 6 1/3 innings and giving up just one run. Hargrave earned the victory after entering the game in the seventh with two on and one out. After walking the first batter she faced to load the bases, Hargrave got a force out at the plate and a popup out from the next batter to close out the victory for the Cards.
Dendy provided the Cards’ first run of the contest in the third with her legs, reaching first base on a dropped third strike, stealing two bases, and scoring on an error. Feiden added the eventual game-winning run three at-bats later when shortstop Molly O’Connell ’09 drove her in with a single.
“The Coast Guard game was great,” Dendy said. “I felt like the team was behind me the entire game. I knew that there weren’t going to be any fielding errors, and every inning we kept battling at the plate. I don’t know what else to say except we all showed up to play, and it came together nicely.”
The Cards look to keep up their solid play this weekend against Amherst.
“We played well this weekend, and it was great to get a win against Williams, but the real test comes this weekend,” Feiden said. “Hopefully we can pick up another one or two wins in the division.”
The Cards will take on the Lord Jeffs in the first game of the series at 4:30 p.m. on Friday at home before heading to Amherst for a doubleheader on Saturday.
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