A trio of sophomores came up big for Wesleyan this weekend, helping the baseball team win two out of three games against Middlebury in NESCAC West play. Center fielder and leadoff hitter Kyle Weiss ’12 went 4-for-13 at the plate with a game-winning hit, pitcher Mike Barsotti ’12 struck out a career-high 16 batters, and Brett Yarusi ’12, in a dominant performance, held Middlebury to only two runs.
On Friday, the Panthers emerged from the mountains of Vermont to find a beautiful spring weekend in Middletown awaiting them.In front of an estimated 600 spectators, Middlebury jumped out to a 6-2 lead through four innings, and it appeared that Middlebury starter Nick Angstman, who surprised Williams with a three-hit shutout in his last appearance, would cruise to his third win of the season. However, in the bottom of the fifth, Julian Sonnenfeld ’11 hit a ball deep to right for a ground-rule double, then scored on a Brice Kelly ’10 single. Sparked by doubles from Jeff Bizinkauskas ’10 and Alex Meadow ’12, Wesleyan completed the comeback with three runs in the following inning, chasing Angstman from the game.
After conceding five runs in the third inning, Wesleyan starter Barsotti settled down and went to work on the Middlebury batters, allowing exactly one hit every inning for the rest of the game. The Cards broke the tie in the bottom of the seventh, as Bizinkauskas worked a walk with one out, then stole second. Coming to the plate with two outs and a runner in scoring position, Weiss roped a single back up the middle, scoring Bizinkauskas for the go-ahead run.
Although half of Foss Hill believed the game was over after seven innings, Barsotti still had to take the mound and retire two more rounds of Middlebury batters.
“That big (sixth) inning really pumped me up to go out and finish the game,” said Barsotti, who appeared to be laboring by the end of the eighth inning.
Following a two-out single and a defensive error, the top of the ninth appeared be getting hairy fast for Wesleyan. With runners on second and third, Barsotti placed his 145th pitch of the game perfectly, retiring Middlebury cleanup hitter Joseph Conway on a called third strike to end the game with a score of 7-6.
“It was definitely nice to get a victory,” said Barsotti “That win reminded me of how good our team is.”
Barsotti started Wesleyan’s lone loss to Amherst last weekend. The big righthander collected an impressive 16 strikeouts on Friday, including three in the final inning, and is now on pace to eclipse the single-season strikeout record of 79, set by Will James ’02.
The Cards and Panthers returned to Andrus Field on Saturday for a doubleheader witnessed by a Foss Hill crowd at least as sizable as the day before. If the Midd Kids were looking to fare better at the plate than their previous performance, they would have to wait, as Yarusi turned in a pitching performance at least as dominant as Barsotti’s the day before. Scattering six hits in seven innings, Yarusi faced only 26 batters in collecting the 21 outs necessary for his third complete game victory of the season. Now 4-1 in five starts, Yarusi shut out the Panthers after conceding two runs in the third inning, allowing only one ball to even leave the infield (a fly-out to center).
The Cardinals put up ten runs as Weiss stroked two doubles in a 3-for-4, 3-RBI performance, and Bizinkauskas, Meadow, Derek Dettorre ’11, and Joey Giaimo ’11 all collected two hits apiece. More importantly, the Cards did not commit a defensive error for only the fourth time this year. After some positional shuffling, the defense appears to be reasonably set, with new middle infield combo Jon Sheehan ’11 and Chris Bonti ’13 turning two double plays on the weekend. Sonnenfeld, recently moved from third to first to left field, helped Yarusi hold the Panthers to two runs when he fired a strike from left to nab a Midd baserunner at home plate, earning his second outfield assist in four games.
The weekend ended in anti-climactic fashion for the Cardinals when Middlebury reached Derek Lukin ’13 for eight hits, while the defense committed three errors behind the freshman southpaw. Senior Michael Cifuentes, who pitched one inning of mop-up duty in the ninth inning, was the only reliever to pitch for Wesleyan all weekend. Sheehan was a lone bright spot on the Cardinal offense, hitting safely twice and displaying warning-track power with a deep double to left. Weiss nearly came away with a spectacular diving catch in the deepest part of spacious Andrus field. However, Middlebury shortstop Matt Wassel’s deep fly ball struck the center field fence, and Wassel raced around the bases for a rare inside-the-park home run, the Panthers’ third round-tripper of the game.
“We didn’t need to sweep [Middlebury], but it would have made the season a lot easier down the road,” said Barsotti. “Looking at last year, we didn’t sweep anybody and still made the tournament. However, Amherst and Williams are never going to lay down for us, so we need to take next weekend’s series against Hamilton.”
Before then, however, the Cardinals head out of conference for a home game Tuesday against Elms College. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
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