MIDDLETOWN, CT – The Williams College Ephs baseball team played their first conference games on Sunday, opposing Wesleyan in a double-header. After agreeing to reschedule Friday and Saturday's games due to rainy conditions, both the Ephs and the Cardinals were fresh and hungry for competition, which was visible on the field. The Ephs split the day, winning game one 3-1, and losing a tightly contested game two 6-5.
The Ephs got out to a quick lead in game two, scoring one in the top of the first. Williams managed to work two walks to open the game, then loaded the bases on a
Cole Whitehouse dunker to center. With two outs,
Mike Giove would leg out a ground ball single to the short stop to give the team an early 1-0 lead.
The raging bull,
Nick Skiera, was on the bump for the Ephs, looking to continue his streak of impressive starts. He would not disappoint, tossing 5.0 innings, striking out eight Cardinals in the process. Despite allowing five earned runs in his last two inning, Skiera effectively minimized Wesleyan's bats for much of the game, getting himself out of several jams. It would be incorrect to say he didn't give the Ephs a chance to win.
The score remained 1-0 Ephs until the top of the fourth inning when the Williams faithful were able to capitalize off several Wesleyan errors. With the bases juiced, Captain
Jakob Cohn hit a ground ball that found its way past the third baseman, scoring two. With two men on, the next batter, catcher
Henry Juan, laced a line drive single to left that resulted in two more runs.
Unfortunately, the Ephs' bats went cold after the fourth, and would be unable to plate anymore runs. In the bottom of the inning, Wesleyan's offense woke up and landed a barrage of singles. The Cardinals would close the gap, bringing the score to 5-4, by the end of the inning. They would go on to tie up the game in the fifth, ending
Nick Skiera's day.
Unfortunately,
Max Hart would claim the loss for Williams in game two. Hart, who was on a restricted pitch count, would allow the go ahead run in the sixth inning; Hart was only kept in for two of the inning's three outs. Lead off batter Christian Boudreau lined a single into right to start the inning, then Wesleyan proceeded to play small ball to score him. A groundout advanced Boudreau, who then stole third base. With men on first and third, an unsuccessful attempted double play allowed Boudreau to score, giving the Cardinals a 6-5 lead.
The Ephs' relief pitching staff— Peponis, Martin, O'Connor— gave the offense a chance by holding the score where it was, but the bats went cold. "It was a competitive game," said Coach Barrale, "and we're grateful we have a chance to win ourselves a series on Monday."
The Ephs look to win the rubber match at home on Monday (4/3) at 4pm.
