Davenport, FL - The Williams College Ephs lost the lead late in a 10-9 defeat to Kalamazoo College Hornets Wednesday afternoon. The Kalamazoo College Hornets trailed 9-8 in the bottom of the seventh inning when second baseman, David Stechow, doubled on a 1-0 count, scoring two runs.
Williams lost despite out-hitting Kalamazoo College Hornets nine to eight—the Ephs also hit four home runs during the contest (Giove, Stannard, Juan, Cohn).
Jake Martin started the game on the bump for the Ephs and was lights-out in his second appearance of the year. Martin's three pitch mix kept the Hornets off balance while the Ephs built their early lead. The sophomore allowed only three hits and two runs over his four innings of work, striking out two in the process.
Leading 1-0 in the third inning, the Ephs sent junior right fielder
Mike Giove to the plate. With two strike on him, Giove hammered a towering fly ball over the left field fence. Of course, nobody in the Eph dugout was surprised—it was around this time last year when Giove had a two home run day against St. Olaf. The next batter was
Brendan Stannard, who followed Giove's lead, hitting an identical shot on the very first pitch of his at bat.
The Hornets closed the gap in the bottom of the inning, taking advantage of a few walks and a hit-by-pitch served up by Martin. As said by coach Barrale post-game, "It was the free bases that hurt us the most. We can hit four homers in a game, but if we can't command the zone, this is the outcome we're going to get." Junior
JP Wong and First-year
Issey Gestel were in middle relief for the Ephs staff— both pitchers had sharp stuff but had some challenges commanding the zone.
It was
Teddy Massingham who took the unfortunate loss for Ephs. The first-year flamethrower entered the game in a tough spot in the sixth inning—with one out and two men on—and was able to work himself out of the jam. However, in the seventh inning, up 9-8, Massingham surrendered two runs on two hits. It was a pressurized situation, and Massingham showed a lot of grit, but the final score would remain 10-9.
Coach Barrale commented on the offense after the game, "We showed we can really hit today. It's hard to keep your foot on the gas after you score nine runs… it's a nine inning game, it's hot, and it's hard to see a big lead dwindle. I'm proud of the way we swung it, and know we can do better on both sides of the ball."
The Ephs return to action on Friday for a nine inning contest against John's Hopkins.
