Davenport, FL - The second day of Eph baseball contests provided a memorable doubleheader against Fredonia State.
In game one, the Williams College Ephs downed the Blue Devils by a score of 7-1, behind the arm of right-handed pitcher
Nick Skiera. Skiera threw six innings, only allowing only five hits; the one run scored under his watch was unearned. The Ephs' record improved to 2-1, starting a win streak after beating Hobart College in their second contest on Saturday.
The Ephs recorded seven hits in the game—led by junior right fielder
Mike Giove, who went 2-3 with a single and a double. Williams College was able to capitalize several times on walks and fielding errors.
Fredonia State, representing the home team in game one, entered the game with a 4-6 record. The Blue Devils opened the game with a bunt single by Brady Ventura, and continued to play small-ball, until Ventura eventually scored on a fielding error by first-year shortstop,
Dave Mosrie. The Ephs did not respond until the top of the second, when
Cole Whitehouse got the ball rolling for the Ephs, working a full count and reaching base by a walk. Whitehouse advanced all the way to third base on a wild pick-off move, and scored soon after when Fredonia catcher, Jake Wentland, recorded an error attempting to throw out a baserunner stealing second.
The Ephs maintained their momentum into the third inning— when an error and a pair of walks loaded the bases, left fielder
Brendan Stannard stung a ground ball single up the middle to score two runs.
Cole Whitehouse followed suit with a single of his own, scoring another run, however Stannard was caught attempting to reaching third on the play.
While the Ephs slowly built their lead, junior pitcher
Nick Skiera put on a clinic on the mound, effectively mixing four different types of pitches. Skiera only recorded one strikeout, but he was was very clearly in the drivers seat—only allowing two three-ball counts during his five innings of work. Fredonia batters were kept off balance and could only find weak contact, flying out for six of their 21 outs.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, sophomore
James O'Connor came in to close out the game. He played his role to a tee— inducing a fly out, then striking out the final two batters of the game in emphatic fashion. O'Connor noted after the game: "It felt good to be back on the mound, it had been a while. I had some great D behind me."
