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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA - The Ephs were poised to complete a weekend
sweep of Wesleyan this afternoon, but their Little Three Rivals
jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and never looked back, as they held
off the Ephs for an 8-6 victory. The Cardinals are now 6-5 in the
NESCAC West (16-13 overall) while Williams, who had been riding a
nine-game winning streak entering today's game, boasts an 8-3
conference mark (20-8 overall).
"We didn't execute as well as we did yesterday and the
fundamentals of our game looked sloppy," said Eph head coach Bill
Barrale regarding the differences he noticed between today's loss
and yesterday's double-header sweep of the Cardinals. "Our starting
pitching got us behind and we weren't able to come up with the
clutch hit when we needed it to get us back in the game."
Eph senior starter Ben Horowitz was roughed up in the top of the
first inning, surrendering 3 runs on 3 hits, including a long
double to left-center by freshman Alex Meadow that brought in two.
Horowitz battled back to get the next two outs and limit the
damage. In the home half of the inning, the Ephs struck back with 2
runs on 3 hits, as senior Taylor Mikell's two-run single made it a
3-2 ballgame after the one frame.
After a scoreless second, Wesleyan would stretch their lead
courtesy of a one-out triple by junior Brice Kelly. Meadow would
bat him in on a ground-out to give the Cardinals a 4-2 lead. They
would add two more an inning later, as a pair of leadoff walks and
a bunt single loaded the bases with Cardinals. After Horowitz
allowed a run on an infield hit, he retired the next two batters
and had Kelly 0-2, but a fastball struck Kelly in the back to force
in the sixth Wesleyan run.
Williams would answer in the bottom of the fourth with 2 runs on
3 hits of off Cardinal senior starter and head captain Drew
Dominguez. After back-to-back singles by junior Chad Brown and
senior Zach Stone, sophomore Pat Barren drove them both in with a
booming triple over the right fielder's head to cut the deficit to
6-4.
Freshman Dan Grossman entered in relief in the fifth and struck
out the side. The sixth inning was not as favorable for the young
hurler, as he allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and an error. Sophomore
Julian Sonnenfeld delivered the critical blow with runners on first
and third base and nobody out. He smacked a liner directly at
freshman center fielder Stephen Maier, and after a slight
hesitation, the ball landed just under his diving attempt, allowing
the seventh and eighth Cardinal runs to cross the plate.
The Ephs chipped away at the 8-4 Wesleyan lead in the bottom of
the inning, when junior Jim Entwistle blasted a double over the
left fielder to score Barren. After Grossman dealt a scoreless
seventh, junior Robin Allemand belted a lead-off triple in the
bottom half of the frame and came in score on junior Al Mathews's
sacrifice fly to bring Williams back within two. Mikell came within
inches off making it an 8-7 ballgame, as his he powered a line
drive over the right field wall that barely missed the foul pole.
He flied out on the next pitch to end the inning.
Despite scoreless relief work by junior hurler Tom Coleman in
the eighth and ninth innings, the Ephs were unable to score again,
as Dominguez battled through the final outs to earn the complete
game victory 8-6. He suffered 6 runs on 12 hits and a walk, but he
hung tough and made good pitches in difficult situations to help
his team avoid the three-game sweep.
"I thought their starter pitched a nice game for them," remarked
Barrale. "We hit a lot of hard outs against him but he made some
good pitches to shut us down. Our bullpen did a great job to keep
us in it and our kids played hard, but we just didn't have enough
today.
"Our goal was to take 2 out of 3 against these guys to guarantee
a playoff spot and we did that. It would have been nice to sweep,
but I'm pleased with how we played this weekend and how we battled
to stay in some tough games. We have a lot of season left so we'll
just have to keep working hard and getting better."
Next stop for the squad will be at Skidmore this Tuesday at
4:00PM.
