Spurred by solid starting pitching and clutch hitting, the baseball team swept Hamilton in a three-game series this past weekend.
Like last year, the team looks to be hitting its stride during the stretch run of the season.
On Friday in the first game of the series, Wesleyan was down 8-5 going into the eighth despite a six inning, zero earned run performance by pitcher Dusty Mones ’09. But the team rallied for ten runs in the inning including grand slams by co-captains Alexander Brooks ’06 and Jeff Maier ’06. The grand slam by Brooks came first and put the team up for good.
“Brooks’ hit was a C-Rod,” said Daniel Poniatowski ’08. “It couldn’t have come at a bigger time. He’s really the leader of this team in a lot of ways.”
Brian Mahr ’07 pitched a solid final two-plus innings of relief to get the win. Also making important contributions to the offense was second baseman Chris Waelsch ’07, who added two hits.
In the Cards’ first game on Saturday, the team managed to overcome five errors in the field to squeeze out an 8-6 win. Ace Andre Sternberg ’07 pitched another complete game. Doubles by Maier and Simpson, followed by a two-run home run by Adam Kopiec ’07 sparked a five-run fifth inning that gave Wesleyan the lead. Centerfielder Jesse Leavitt ’06 also added three hits and three RBI to support the winning cause.
In the third game, the Cardinals squeezed out a tough win, 3-2. Lou Gabel ’08 threw a gem, going all nine innings and allowing zero earned runs.
“Lou Gabel backed up the spikes and strikes guarantee,” said fellow staff member Charlie Munzig ’07.
In the seventh, Chris Simpson ’08 hit a two-run home run, his second shot of the weekend, to tie the game at two. Going into the ninth, however, the game was still knotted. That set the stage for co-captain Anthony Gray ’06 to show his senior leadership in singling to open the inning. With two outs, Rob Coughlin ’07 hit a clutch single to drive Gray in and give the Cards the lead. Gabel then pitched a perfect ninth to preserve the win.
The wins against Hamilton brought Wesleyan’s NESCAC record to 3-4-1, and the Cardinals sit just one game behind Middlebury in their quest for a NESCAC tournament bid.
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