The Wesleyan baseball team came into the 2024–25 season with clear goals: For the last three years, the Cards have suffered a first-round exit in the NESCAC Championships. This year, they were determined to avoid another Groundhog Day ending.
“In [my] first three years here, we haven’t had much luck getting past the first round of the playoffs in the NESCAC tournament,” third baseman Evan Diaz ’25 said. “So trying to get past that hump [is] a big thing that we’re looking for as a team.”
As always, the Cards began the season by trading the brutal early Connecticut March for sunny Tucson, Ariz. for their annual Spring Break trip. Wesleyan would play 12 games in two weeks against a variety of non-conference opponents in an effort to try to get some momentum to bring back to Middletown.
“In Middletown, when we’re in the winter, there’s a lot of long nights [and] snowy, cold days where you’re just grinding and trying your best to get through classes and practices,” Diaz said. “So once Spring Break hits and we get to get on the plane and go to Tucson, it’s like a whole different world. It’s obviously much warmer. When we have our off days, guys go on hikes. We get to enjoy the outdoors in Tucson, [do] things together as teammates in a different setting, and learn more about each other.”
The spring trip started out rough, with the Cards suffering five high-scoring losses in a row to start (Gustavus Adolphus College 11–14, Crown College 11–13, Carthage College 5–10, Rockford University 6–7, Northern State University 8–11). While the offense was clicking, the Cards still couldn’t seem to put it all together, and they found themselves playing from behind in most games.
In the sixth game of the season on March 15, the Cards got another shot at Crown and didn’t waste it. Diaz and outfielder Luke LaSaracina ’25 got the scoring started early with matching RBI singles. Then, in the top of the third, Diaz hit a two-RBI double and LaSaracina followed it up with a two-run bomb to give the Cards a 6–1 lead.
In the fifth, the Storm got two quick outs, but the Cards’ bats started putting runners on base and capitalized off poor defense by Crown to score six more runs, good for a 12–2 lead. Captain and pitcher David Tirrell ’25 held it down on the other end, pitching five solid innings with one earned run. When all was said and done, the Cards won 14–2, a decisive victory to finally put a tally in the win column.
Outfielder and pitcher James Marsden ’26 knew that Cards would break out of the tough start.
“It’s definitely a weight off your shoulders when you get your first win,” Marsden said. “But we knew that we had good baseball in us, so we knew that eventually the tides would turn, and the baseball gods would smile our way. It was about staying on the right track, especially mentally.”
With a win under their belts, the Cards continued their momentum into a game with Augsburg University later that day. Again, the Wesleyan bats were awake, putting up two in the first (another RBI hit for Diaz) and one in the second, taking a 3–1 lead. In the top of the fourth, the Cards broke the game open with a five-run inning thanks to a three-run homer from infielder Jonah Timmons ’27. Right-hander Tanner Mahon ’27 pitched a quality start, throwing six innings with one earned run and fanning 10 Augsburg batters to let the bats shine in a 13–3 win.
The next day it was the same story against the Eagles, as the Cards used a four-run fifth to take a 7–2 lead and hung on to win 11–4, improving their record to 3–5.
With four games left in the trip, the Cards took a 5–8 loss to Hamline University, but used an off-day to regroup before taking on Macalester College on March 20. In the third, with a 2–1 lead, the Cards put up a seven-spot on six hits and some shaky Scots defense to extend the lead. Although Macalester pushed back, the Cards ended up with a 11–7 win.
The Cards’ spring trip finished out with a loss to Macalester 0–7 and a revenge win over Hamline 14–6, where second baseman Ernie Little ’26 shone with four hits and five RBIs, ending up a homer away from the cycle.
Little commented on the Cards’ success in the last half of the trip.
“I would say that week, we showed our potential,” Little said. “We were rolling and finding ways to win, which we hadn’t done the week before. Everyone was playing together [and] everything was flowing really well.”
The Cards finished the trip with a 5–7 record, with all five wins coming in the last seven games. They hoped to bring that momentum back to a thawing late-March Middletown as they began NESCAC play.
After a 5–9 loss to Nichols College, the Cards began the most important part of their season with a three-game series against Hamilton College.
“It’s a totally different energy once you get into NESCAC games; they need so much more,” LaSaracina said. “And starting off with Hamilton, they’ve always been able to hit and had pretty decent pitching, so coming into that game, we were gonna have to play well to win.”
Last year the Cards lost two of three against the Continentals, so this year they looked to right that wrong. Hamilton drew first blood in game one, scoring one run in the top of the second, but the Cards rallied, loading the bases with one out in the bottom of the inning.
On the next play, a routine grounder got past the Continentals’ shortstop, allowing two runs to score. Before the inning was over, a run-scoring fielder’s choice and an RBI double by catcher Jake Acker ’27 put the Red and Black up 4–1. A two-run double by Marsden in the bottom of the fifth sealed the 6–3 win for the Cards. Mahon had another great outing, going seven innings and allowing only one earned run.
The next day, Wes suited up for a double-header, looking to get a decisive second win. They started well, getting out to a 5–3 lead in the seven-inning game, but the Continentals rallied and tied the game at five in the fifth before going ahead by a run in the top of the eighth. The Cards failed to score in the bottom and lost 5–6, setting up a rubber game for the third match. Hamilton seemed to keep their momentum going, putting up two runs in the first, but the Cards knew they had a lot of time left.
With one out and men on first and third, a fielder’s choice hit by Little allowed one run to score. Little’s speed allowed him to get to second on an errant throw. Acker and Timmons promptly hit back-to-back RBI singles to give the Cards a 3–2 lead. From there on, they held the line. Although the offense was not able to further score, Tirrell held it down from the mound, only allowing two baserunners after the first inning and pitching a seven-inning complete game. In doing so, he secured both the 3–2 win and the 2–1 series victory.
“We have a lot of faith in Dave on the mound,” Marsden said. “Even though we scored three runs that game, we know that Dave has our back. He’s a really good pitcher and he’s a great leader too, so it’s very easy to rally behind a guy like that.”
The next week, the Cards suffered a tough 9–12 loss to Mitchell College after the Mariners put up eight runs in the bottom of the eighth, but they hoped to keep their NESCAC momentum going with a weekend series against Middlebury.
Unfortunately, the Cards did not get the result they were looking for, suffering a sweep from the Panthers. They scored first in the opening game but were not able to keep momentum, falling 4–10. In the second game, they pulled to within a run in the sixth, but the Panthers pulled away for a 3–7 loss. In the third game, the Panthers were in control, handing the Cards a 4–11 defeat. Obviously, this was not the desired outcome, but the Cards could still take away lessons and motivation to leverage in the coming weeks.
“It’s a good learning period, learning through failure,” Little said. “We just talked about it after the game [and] kind of flushing it, like, it happens. We can’t change the outcome. We just got to move on and go win these next two series.”
In the next game, the Cards fell to Ramapo College of New Jersey 3–4, but the game was not without highlights. Diaz secured his 99th and 100th hits, joining a list of 56 Cardinals to hit this mark in almost 140 years of Wesleyan baseball.
Although they couldn’t secure the win for Diaz, the Cards made up for it in the next game against Emerson College. After going down 1–6 in the top of the fourth, the Cards went on a rampage, scoring 23 runs in three innings and winning the game 24–6 with their biggest offensive output in seven years. Marsden made history recording three triples and a grand slam while driving in a whopping 12 runs, the most by a Cardinal since at least 2012 (the earliest available box score).
Since Emerson, the Cards have won one of three non-conference games (Albertus Magnus College 3–7, University of St. Joseph 1–12, Coast Guard Academy 10–7), putting their record at 9–16, but the NESCAC season is still only half done. This weekend, the Cards look to get on the right track towards the playoffs, facing Amherst for a three-game set.
“The hopes are to get a sweep and keep the ball rolling with the momentum we have off Coast Guard,” LaSaracina said. “And then [we want to] go on to this weekend with all the confidence in the world and get ourselves a series win.”
Marsden believes that this team has the chemistry it takes to win down the stretch.
“When we’re playing, win or lose, we’re all playing for each other,” Marsden said. “And you can definitely feel that on the field, like when you’re playing, you’re playing for the guys next to you, and they’re playing for you too. So that gives you a lot of confidence. Once you get into the playoffs, anything can happen, [so] all of us just are looking forward to that opportunity to make something happen.”
Erin Byerly contributed reporting.
Ethan Lee can be reached at ejlee@wesleyan.edu.
Leave a Reply