Williamstown, M.A. — The Williams College baseball team scored a whopping 37 runs in 12 innings against Middlebury to sweep Saturday's double header at Bobby Coombs Field. The Ephs remain undefeated on the season, boasting a 5-0 record after a 17-6 victory in the first game and a 20-7 victory in the second game.
Senior
Erik Mini and sophomore
Jakob Cohn each blasted a home run, and the startring pitchers, sophomore
Sean Hogan and freshman
Nick Skiera, struck out 10 batters each. Williams head coach
Bill Barrale highlighted the offensive production from both the top and bottom of the lineup. "Last weekend [against Hamilton], it was Cohn and Mini mostly, but today, a lot of guys contributed," Barrale said. "Phil Barnett had a good day, J.J. Irzyk had a bunch of hits, and John Singleton had a bunch, too. Tonight, you see that up and down the lineup, [the Ephs] were having good at bats."
In their first at-bats of the spring season, the Panthers — boasting a roster of only freshmen and sophomores during a pandemic-shortened season — opened with a quick two-run lead after two errors by the Ephs. Rightfielder Lucas Flemming reached first after an errant throw to first by sophomore
Cole Whitehouse and scored off centerfielder Sammy Smith's triple to right field. Freshman
Kurt Oelschlager misplayed a ground ball to second, which also allowed Smith to also score.
The Ephs offense responded to the 0-2 deficit immediately, exploding for five runs on five hits in the bottom of the first. Following a fly out from senior
Eric Pappas, Oelschlager singled to right field and sophomore
Jakob Cohn singled to center field. Junior
Nate Orluk battled back from an 0-2 count and drew a walk, setting up senior
Jeremy Irzyk to bloop a two-run single over the shortstop's head. Another pair of singles by senior Phillip Barnett and Whitehouse brought three more runners home to make the score 5-2.
The back-and-forth affair continued in the top of the second when Middlebury infielders Evan Hunter and Baker Angstman sparked a two-out rally with a single and a walk, respectively. Flemming tied the game when he drove Hogan's fastball down the right field line, hitting the foul pole for a three-run shot.
However, the Panthers' offense cooled down in the next few innings as the Ephs' righthander settled down and held Middlebury to just one run for the remainder of the game. The Ephs continued to put pressure on the Panthers' defense with another run in the third inning before exploding for seven runs in the fifth inning. The middle of the order, Oelschlager, Cohn, Orluk, and Irzyk, recorded four hits — all with two outs — to bring the score to 13-5. The four batters would go on to contribute 9 of the Ephs' 15 hits in the game.
The Ephs added onto their lead with another four run inning in the bottom of the sixth. Whitehouse doubled down the right field line and Pappas singled to bring up Mini. Mini, who hit for the cycle with two home runs last weekend, continued his blistering start to the season by blasting a three-run shot that landed by the scoreboard to increase Williams' lead to 17-5.
Middlebury added a final run in the top of the seventh, but Williams closed out the first game of the doubleheader 17-6. Hogan pitched a complete game and got the win. The right-hander notched 10 strikeouts, walked three batters, and gave up six hits. On the Panthers' side, four pitchers gave up 10 hits and six walks.
The second game of the double header started off much like the first as Middlebury struck first, putting two runs on the board. Smith hit yet another opposite field triple to drive in Flemming and would later score off a passed ball. Despite the early lead, the Panthers pitching could not halt the Ephs' red-hot offense as Williams went on to score nine unanswered runs.
Panthers pitcher Andrew Gatland struggled with control issues in his start, walking the first three Eph batters to load the bases. Pappas scored off a wild pitch and Oelschlager came home on a passed ball. Irzyk grounded out to bring home Cohn and break the tie 3-2. Despite scoring three runs, the Ephs only registered their first hit when Barnett singled to center field to score Orluk.
The Ephs put on a dominant showing of offense and pitching in the next few frames. Starting freshman
Nick Skiera bounced back after an injury scare in the first inning to strike out the side in both the second and third inning. The offense would back him up with timely hitting — lots of it. The Ephs tacked on six runs in the next three innings, highlighted by Cohn's two-run bomb in the third inning.
Middlebury's offense woke up in the fourth inning when third baseman Andrew Ashley smashed a three-run homerun after Skiera hit two batters in a row, and Flemming drove a run in with a single. Senior
Bryan Woolley came in to relieve Skiera and got out of a two-out jam with a strikeout to keep the Panthers at bay 9-6.
The Ephs' blew open the game in the fifth inning with nine runs on six hits. It seemed like the bases were always occupied, as Cohn, Mini, and Orluk singled before Irzyk and Barnett were hit by pitches. Following a pitching change, Mini lifted a ball over Smith's head in center field to drive in three more runs and make the score 19-7.
After an RBI single from freshman
Mike Giove in the sixth, senior
George Carroll closed out the game to preserve the final score at 20-7.
Altogether, the Ephs recorded 33 hits on the day while the pitching staff struck out 22 Panthers. In the second game, the Ephs rotation did not give up a single walk. On the Panthers' side, Flemming totaled four hits on the day.
The undefeated Ephs will play again in two weeks as they prepare for a doubleheader against Amherst on April 24.
