Two-Out Magic and Trust: Basemen Capture 2026 Little Three Title

Fresh off a disappointing last season, the Cards came back this season with a fire lit under them thanks to the addition of a new coach. The Cards have had an up-and-down season to start, but with strong performance in NESCAC play and the team all pulling in the same direction, the Cards are looking to win the ’CAC and make a deep run this season. 

A new coach can change a baseball team in more ways than one. Catcher Jake Acker ’27 highlighted the changes Coach Matt Reynolds has brought to the Cards and how those have enabled them to start fresh this season.

“Getting Coach Reynolds in has been nothing but good,” Acker said. “He brought kind of everything we needed: more structure, better practice plans, and being more militant with our time. Doing away with the old and coming in with the new is so good. It just felt like we were washing our hands clean of the old season. I think that really helped play a part in our success so far in the conference.”

Besides the switch in coach, the Red and Black switched their usual two-week Spring Break trip to Tucson, Ariz. for a trip across the East Coast, making stops in Davenport, Fla., Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Baltimore, Md. 

Acker discussed how the new trip signifies a new era for Wesleyan baseball. 

“It just kind of plays into this whole idea that it’s a new age for Wesleyan baseball, and we’re changing everything,” Acker said. “Coach Reynolds always says, ‘We’re raising the bar. We’re raising the standard.’ So you don’t want to be left behind, and you want to rise to the occasion. You want to play faster, and you want to play better.” 

The Cards started the new season on the wrong foot with a four-game losing streak. However, determined not to leave Florida on a bad note, the Cards then rattled off three straight victories, defeating Suffolk University 9–7, Dominican University 10–9 in 10 innings, and Pennsylvania State University Abington 4–0 in 7 innings. 

Acker described the slow start and the ability of the team to quickly turn it around. 

“We hadn’t been outside since February,” Acker said. “So it took a little time for everybody to just kind of get used to what it’s like being outside. But once we got our feet below us and we got done playing all that good competition, we came back up here, and we’re playing really good. We’re playing pretty clean and pretty fast.”

The Red and Black lost their final game in Florida and headed up to Myrtle Beach for a quick two games. The Cards lost both games and had a hard test awaiting them in Baltimore, Md.

In Baltimore, the Cards had three games against Johns Hopkins University, a top-five team in DIII. In the first game, the Red and Black were tied 3–3 through 5 innings. The Blue Jays’ offense was too powerful to keep down for long, though, as the Cards surrendered a three-run home run in the 6th, leading to a 3–8 defeat. The Blue Jays torched the Cards’ pitching, scoring a combined 29 runs over the final 2 games, while the bats just managed 5 runs. 

Despite the outcome of the series against Johns Hopkins, Acker said the team learned a lot. 

“It’s not going to get better than that,” Acker said. “So facing that pitching, facing those batters, it just made everyone focus more. I think playing them just can really help guide us in the correct direction. I mean, you play them and then play a team like Amherst, and the game kind of slows down, and like, you kind of just realize we’ve already seen the best there is, so let’s go.” 

After the final game against the Blue Jays, the Cards made the journey back to Middletown with a 3–10 record. In their first game back against the University of Hartford, the Cards’ bats heated up, with homers from Acker, James Marsden ’26, and Sebastian Ortiz ’28 leading to a much-needed 14–9 victory that snapped the six-game losing streak before the team headed into their first NESCAC play of the season. 

Marsden reflected on the value of playing the hard competition early in the season and on the fresh perspective that it has given him. 

“Seeing the competition that we were able to play against and we were able to compete against…. Once you get up north, who you’re playing against doesn’t really matter as much,” Marsden said. “You take it as your own personal process, or your process as a team, and focus on that rather than who you’re playing.”

Following the Hartford win, the Cards dove into NESCAC play with a three-game set against Amherst. The first game was on the road, and although Wes went up 2–0 early, the Mammoths responded and sent the Cards back to Middletown with a 4–14 loss. On Sunday, March 29, the Cards welcomed the Mammoths to Dresser Diamond for the home opener, part of a doubleheader.

The Cards got out to a decent start, up 2–0 through four innings, but then the Amherst bats awoke, putting up two in the fifth and three in the sixth to take a 5–2 lead. The Cards responded in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run single by Matthew DeBenedictis ’29 pulling them within one, but in the top of the seventh, Amherst was back at it with two more, to give themselves a three-run cushion. In the bottom of the seventh, the Cards got two quick outs before they began to change the momentum. Marsden doubled, bringing runners to second and third, first baseman Jonah Timmons ’27 singled in a run, and outfielder Sam Hensinger ’26 and Acker both walked, bringing up DeBenedictis with the bases loaded in a 6–7 game. 

Marsden had a good feeling.

“​​It never felt like we were gonna lose that game,” Marsden said. “We’ve been in spots already this year, backs against the wall, not having a choice but to figure it out, and [we were] able to trust everyone in those spots [to come] through.”

DeBenedictis indeed came through, poking a bloop single in between the third baseman and left fielder to plate the Cards’ seventh and eighth runs of the game and walk it off in his first-ever game on Dresser Diamond. 

In the rubber game, the Mammoths struck first with three early runs, but the Cards did not wait to respond, putting up two in both the second and third to take a lead. The Mammoths were able to tie it at four at the top of the sixth, but outfielder Kato Mangum ’28 had other ideas, taking the lead back with a leadoff dinger. Wes went on to win 9–4, taking the series and moving closer to a Little Three Championship.

Acker gave credit to the gritty game two win for the Cards’ confidence in game three.

“In that third game, no one ever panicked,” Acker said. “We [were] waiting for that moment of who’s gonna be the guy to crack this one open and open the floodgates? So, definitely the momentum in the second game carried us into the third game to allow us to win.”

Following a tough 1–12 loss against Eastern Connecticut State University, the Cards made the trek to Clinton, N.Y. for three games at Hamilton. 

The Continentals were in control in the opener, taking a 6–0 lead by the fourth, and while the Cards made a run at a comeback, they ultimately fell 5–8, setting up another series in which Wes would have to claw their way back into it. In game two, the Red and Black were the ones with the 6–0 lead, and they took the game 7–4, thanks to three runs driven in by Hensinger. Right-hander Shamus Kelly ’28 held it down from the mound, limiting the Continental offense and tossing a seven-inning complete game on 106 pitches.

Acker pointed to Kelly’s consistency for the win.

“We know we’re getting a quality start from Shamus,” Acker said. “So we just got to get a little bit of run support, and we know we’re gonna have a fighting chance.”

Facing another rubber game, the Cards once again controlled the beginning of the game, going up 6–0 in the top of the fifth, with first baseman William Moore ’26 driving in three. The Continentals threatened, putting up four runs, but the Cards’ bats exploded in the top of the seventh. Wes capitalized on four hits and wild Continental pitching to send 13 Cards to the plate and score 9 runs, sealing a 15–4 win and another NESCAC series win.

On Tuesday, April 7, the Cards hosted Albertus Magnus College for a midweek matchup. The game was back and forth, but the Falcons got the last laugh, going ahead in the top of the ninth in a 6–7 loss for the Cards.

The Cards quickly turned around for a three-game series with Williams, the series that would decide the Little Three. Game one started quietly, but after trailing 2–3 in the bottom of the fifth, the Cards caught fire. The first six Cardinals who went to the plate all got hits and capitalized with seven runs to go up 9–3. They kept adding and finished the game 13–5, one win away from hoisting the title. In game two the following day, the Cards were in Ephs territory for the double-header conclusion to the series. Once again, the fifth inning was a nightmare for Williams’ pitching as the Red and Black plated another seven, capped off by an Acker two-run single. While in earlier series, the Cards depended on people coming through in big moments, they left nothing up to the last moment against Williams, sealing a 10–4 win and securing the Little Three Championship.

Marsden thought the team showed their identity against Williams.

“The Little Three brings out who you are as a team,” Marsden said. “How resilient you are will come out in the Little Three. This is maybe the most resilient team I’ve been a part of. And just the care for the game and the focus on winning and the need to win, from top to bottom. You don’t feel anyone in the dugout getting complacent.”

Acker pointed to the bonus of being able to take the title a year after being swept by both teams.

“It feels so good,” Acker said. “In that Amherst game, they were chirping at our guys. And we just kept our heads down and kept it classy and beat them fair and square. Williams wasn’t sharp enough, but they swept us last year. And going into this year, we had a big chip on our shoulders. We were so much better than that. So, yeah, it tastes so much sweeter.”

The Cards sit at 6–3 in-conference (10–15 overall) with one NESCAC series to go. The Red and Black host the Middlebury Panthers this afternoon at 4:00 PM for the start of a three-game series, with playoff seeding still to be determined. But Acker is not worried.

“I think we’re a championship caliber team,” Acker said. “Our lineup is dangerous, one through nine; our pitching staff is very good, and our bullpen arms are good. I have trust in these guys, I know my guys trust me, and that’s all that really matters.”

Ethan Lee can be reached at ejlee@wesleyan.edu.

Benjamin Mayer can be reached at bmayer@wesleyan.edu.