Baseball Defeats Wesleyan 4-3 to Win the Season Series 3-0

WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS. — The Williams College Ephs used a balanced attack and strong pitching to topple Wesleyan University 7–5, taking the opener of a pivotal doubleheader.

After a quiet first two innings, it was Williams who broke through first. With two outs in the top of the third, Ryan Nakajima singled to left, and Henry Juan followed with a booming double to right to bring Nakajima around and give the Ephs a 1–0 lead.

Sophomore righthander Owen McHugh set the tone early, tossing three scoreless innings with five strikeouts, keeping the Cardinals' offense at bay.

Wesleyan briefly seized momentum in the bottom of the fourth, scratching across two runs on single RBI hits by C Sullivan and J Marsden, putting Wes in front 2–1. The Cardinals tacked on another run in the fifth to stretch their lead to 3–1.

But the Ephs were unfazed. In the sixth, after Juan and James O'Connor worked walks, a single from Luca Lopetrone loaded the bases. Will Scott seized the opportunity, hitting a sacrifice fly to center to score Juan and trim the deficit to 3–2. After Lopertone proceeded to steal second base, Anthony Lods delivered a clutch RBI single to left to tie the game. Sasha Palma built on the momentum, giving the Ephs a 4-3 lead, hitting a ground out to third to send Lopetrone home.

Despite getting the lead, O'Connor was not satisfied and wasted no time adding insurance in the seventh. After Nakajima walked and a pitch hit by Juan, the senior blasted a three-run homer to right, putting Williams ahead 7–3 and electrifying his team in this tough road match up.

Wesleyan made things interesting in the bottom half, taking advantage of an Eph error before Eddie Diaz launched a two-run homer to pull within 7–5. But from there, reliever James Murray shut the door, stranding a runner at second to end the seventh, getting the Ephs a win and his first save of the season.

Heading into the second game, Wesleyan was determined not to be swept in the series; however, behind a clutch ninth-inning rally and nine shutout innings from Jacob Martin, the Ephs took down Wesleyan University, 4–3.

The Ephs managed to take a brief lead after Anthony Lodds took advantage of a passed ball to go up one. Wesleyan's Ethan Diaz responded quickly, drilling a three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth. Lucas Brandt, who started for Williams, settled in after the big swing and worked six strong innings, striking out five and allowing no more runs after the homer.

Williams got things going again in the seventh, starting with a double by Dave Mosrie. From there, Ben Swank delivered an RBI single to bring Mosrie home and cut down the lead. Ephs tied up the game after O'Connor and Owen McHugh both worked walks to get Swank home, tying the score at three.

Jacob Martin took over on the mound in the seventh and was outstanding, throwing three hitless innings and striking out three. The junior kept Wesleyan off balance and gave the Ephs a chance to steal the game late.

In the top of the ninth, Williams was determined to put the game away. Scott started with a lead-off double before taking third on a ground out by O'Connor. With the game on the line, Wesleyan's catcher mishandled a pitch, which allowed Scott to scamper home on the passed ball. With the game in his hands, up 4-3,  Martin returned to the mound and closed the door. After a lead off pop fly, Martin struck out Jake Acker in style, before the Ephs got the last out of the game on another pop fly to right field. 

Williams totaled 11 hits, led by Ryan Nakajima's three hits and two from Scott. Brandt earned his second win of the year, while Martin picked up a save.

Eph head coach Bill Barrale was thrilled with his team's performance, and was proud of their perseverance, saying, "Being down three to one in both games and our guys continue to believe we will find a way. So proud of our guys and happy for our seniors."

This game put the Ephs at 16-13 on the season. They have two more out-of-conference regular-season games before the start of the NESCAC Championship. The first one will be played at home against the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, starting at 4 p.m. this Tuesday.