TUCSON, AZ. – The Wesleyan baseball team returned to action for the beginning of the 2023 season in Arizona Sunday, defeating the Carthage College Firebirds by a score of 16-6 in seven innings. After falling behind 2-0 in the first inning, the Cardinals responded with eight runs in the 2^nd to take a commanding 8-2 lead and would never look back. Wesleyan put together eight runs over the course of the final three innings to put away the Firebirds and walk away from the Kino Sports Complex with their first victory of the 2023 season. Wesleyan starts the year 1-0, looking to carry that momentum into day two of their spring break trip. Carthage drops to 3-4 with the defeat.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Christian Boudreau '25 began Wesleyan's season with a leadoff single through the left side, but the Cardinals were unable to score in the opening half-inning of 2023. Carthage came back in the bottom half and managed two runs with Drew Knecht and Collin Callahan both connecting on extra base hits
• The Cardinals then exploded for eight runs in the top-half of the 2^nd. Luke LaSaracina '25 tied the game with a two-run homerun to right field that scored Ricky Finkel '23. After a few Firebirds errors, Matt Halas '24 kept the scoring going with an RBI triple down the right field line to make it 5-2. The Wesleyan lineup kept the line moving with two more singles to bring LaSaracina back up for the 2^nd time in the inning. He delivered once again with an RBI single to extend the lead to 7-2. A third Firebirds' error of the inning lead to the Cardinals 8^th run, as the top of the 2^nd finally came to an end
• Carthage began to fight their way back into this one over the course of the next three innings, cutting the deficit to just three in the bottom of the 4^th. Wesleyan was quick to respond, adding two more runs in the 5^th. After a pair of walks and a fielder's choice, Evan Diaz '25 stepped up to the plate and came through with a two-run triple to deep center field that pushed the Cards lead back up to 10-5
•  The game went into the 7^th inning at 12-6 in favor of the Cards. Wesleyan added four insurance runs in the top half off a pair of hits and walks to extend their lead to 10 at 16-6. After giving up a leadoff single in the bottom half of the 7^th, Adam Bowler '23 finished off the next three batters to help Wesleyan come away with the 16-6 victory to open 2023

NOTES:

• David Tirrell '25 (5 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 9 K's) picked up the victory for the Cardinals with a career-high nine strikeouts. Bowler (2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 K's) came in and finished off the final two innings  
• LaSaracina (2-for-5, 1 HR, 4 RBI) hit a homerun in his first at-bat of 2023, his 3^rd as a Cardinal
• Jack Nally '24 (2-for-4, 2 R, 3 RBI) and Diaz (2-for-3, 2 R, 2 RBI) joined LaSaracina as Cardinals who had multiple RBIs
• The Cardinals finished with three triples, walking nine times, and only struck out three times
• Six different Cardinals had multiple runs
• Wesleyan had 13 hits to Carthage's 11

UP NEXT:
The Cardinals move on to day two of their Spring Break Trip in Arizona, where they will compete in a double-header against Gustavus Adolphus. Last season the Cardinals fell to the Golden Gusties 17-13 in their final game in Arizona.