Annual California trip ends in wins and losses for baseball team

During its annual spring trip, the baseball team traveled to California and experienced some ups and downs in the win-loss column.

The trip started out with a three game series at Menlo College, a small school in northern California. The Cardinals jumped out with a 7-0 lead in the first game, including a solo homerun by Graham Douds ’08. Menlo countered, however, with two runs in the fifth, four in the seventh and three in the eighth for the 9-7 victory.

After a 14-9 loss in the second game, Dusty Mones ’09 paced the Cardinals with six strong innings in the third game, allowing just five hits and one run. Louis Gabel ’08, in his first career start in the outfield, went 2-4 with a homerun and two RBIs, helping Wesleyan to an 11-2 victory.

The team continued the trip by traveling to southern California for the remaining 11 games. After a 10-7 loss against Westmont, the Cardinals enjoyed a four game winning streak, averaging nearly 13 runs scored per game.

The first win featured Jon Sargent ’09 pitching six shutout innings and Drew Dominguez ’09 going 5-5 with three runs and three RBIs as the Cardinals beat La Sierra University 17-3.

The Cardinals then took two straight from Occidental College, with respective scores 12-4 and 12-11. Garrett Lamborn ’09 hit two homeruns in the second game, including a grand slam to help bring the Cardinals back from a 7-0 first inning deficit, and move Wesleyan baseball over .500 (4-3) for the first time since 2003.

Sargent picked up his second victory in four days as the Cardinals defeated Rutgers-Camden 9-7 in 10 innings.

Despite a string of subsequent losses, the offense remained strong. Finishing 0-6 in the next six games, the Cardinals nevertheless averaged nearly seven runs scored per game.

The team finished the California trip with a .347 batting average and 125 runs scored in 14 games, about nine per game. Twelve players carried averages over .300, led by Douds and Alex Early ’09 at .467. Douds also had seven doubles, two homeruns and 15 RBIs.

Upon its return, the team jumped right into the northern part of the schedule, traveling to take on the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Douds continued his hot streak with a monster game, connecting for a grand slam and a three-run homerun on his way to finishing with eight RBIs to lead the team to a 12-7 victory.

The Cardinals then opened up NESCAC play this past weekend, playing a three game series against Little Three rival Amherst.

Trailing 4-0 in the first game, Wesleyan rallied for five runs in the bottom of the sixth to win the game 5-4. Amherst rallied in game two, though, scoring five times in the first five innings on its way to a 7-2 victory.

The third game was played at Amherst, who had a 5-0 lead before the Cardinals were able to get on the board, rallying for one in the seventh and three in the eighth. It wasn’t enough though, as Amherst added on two more for a 7-4 victory.

The season continues this weekend with three games against Middlebury at home. Play begins at 3 p.m. on Saturday for game one, then at noon on Sunday for a doubleheader.