With Williams in town, the Cardinals looked to bounce back from a tough mid-week loss and take first place in the NESCAC West standings this past weekend. After a tough loss in game one, Jimmy Hill ’14 put the team on his back, pitching nine scoreless innings as the Cards rolled to an 8-0 victory to split Saturday’s double-header. Despite the solid performance of Brett Yarusi ’12 on Sunday, however, the Cardinals could not hold on to a 3-0 lead in the seventh inning and saw the victory slip away as Williams scored four unanswered runs in the seventh to win.
“It was a tough weekend,” said captain Joey Giaimo ’11, one of seven senior captains. “But the old saying ‘you learn more from your losses’ I think was true yesterday. In the second game we relaxed and played hard, and in the third game we had good confidence and just couldn’t hold on. Sometimes the ball just doesn’t roll your way.”
Nothing went the Cards’ way at all in the first game on Saturday, as the team managed just two hits off of the solid left-handed Williams starter. The Ephs jumped out to an early three-run lead and added four more in the fourth to take a 7-0 lead. Williams sat on this lead for the remainder of the game as they cruised to an easy 8-1 victory.
Game two saw a completely different Cardinal side, as Hill, in just his second career start, was able to keep Williams off the scoreboard with an excellent complete game, lowering his ERA to 1.26 and improving to 4-0 on the season. On the offensive side of the ball, the bats combined for eight runs on 11 hits, as the team built a commanding lead that proved too much for the Ephs, with Giaimo and Kyle Weiss ’12 each driving in three runs.
“The best part about the game Saturday was just going out there and playing with guys you know are going to make plays behind you,” Hill said after the game. “We had guys diving all over the place in the field and taking care of business at the plate, too, which makes my job a lot easier on the mound.”
Holding a three-run lead going into the seventh inning in game three, it appeared as though the Cardinals were set to return to Middletown having taken two of three from their Little Three rival. After six innings pitched, Yarusi had allowed just one hit with four strikeouts and a walk, and everything was clicking for the Cardinals. The game took a turn for the worse in the seventh inning, however; an early error that should have been a double play eventually led to four runs on four hits, which the Cardinals could not overcome. The final score was 4-3 in Williams’ favor.
The Cardinals are now 3-3 in NESCAC play and 13-12 overall, with a game Tuesday, April 12 at home against Albertus Magnus, and another tough weekend series at Middlebury, who sit atop the NESCAC West.
“Team spirit is still high,” explained Giaimo when asked about the team’s attitude after the weekend. “We’re focused only on Albertus Magnus.”
Leave a Reply