TUCSON, AZ. – The Wesleyan baseball team competed in another double-header down in Arizona this Saturday, taking one of two against Saint John's (Minn.). The Cardinals were able to secure the first game of the day 3-1 behind an impressive pitching performance by Patrick Murphy '24. The junior pitcher held the Johnnies to just one run in a complete game showing. The offenses were going at it in game number two, as they combined for 20 runs in a 12-8 Johnnies victory. The Johnnies put together 15 hits to the Cardinals nine and were able to force a split of the double-header. Saint John's moves to 5-7 with the split, while Wesleyan now sits at 4-4.
 
GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS (3-1 Win)

• Murphy started his impressive day on the mound by putting the Johnnies down in order in the top of the 1^st. The Cardinals then came to the plate and immediately got to work. Christian Boudreau '25 and Luke LaSaracina '25 delivered back-to-back singles to open the inning. The next two Cardinals were retired, bringing Ricky Finkel '23 to the plate with two down. The senior came through with a RBI-single to center field and the Cardinals led 1-0 after one
• The Johnnies threatened over the next two innings leaving runners on, but Murphy was able to shut them down. In the bottom of the 3^rd the Cards came back with another run to help out their pitcher. With two outs and the bases loaded, Finkel sent a groundball to shortstop that was fumbled and everyone was safe, 2-0 Cardinals
• The offenses went quiet for a few half-innings, but Wesleyan came back with one more in the bottom of the 5^th. Dylan Judd '22 hammered a home run over the right field fence and gave the Cardinals a 3-0 advantage. The Jonnies came back in the next half inning, putting together three hits, with Jordan Amundson ripping an RBI-single to left field for their first run of the game
• Wesleyan looked to answer right back in the bottom of the 6^th, loading the bases with a pair of singles and a walk, but the Johnnies were able to shut the door heading into the 7^th and final inning. Murphy came back out for the 7^th, putting Saint John's down in order to end the game and secure the 3-1 Cardinals' victory

NOTES:

• Murphy (7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 7 K's) completes his 2^nd consecutive complete game, holding the Johnnies to just five hits
• The top five hitters in Wesleyan's lineup went 7-for-16 with 2 RBIs. The Cardinals finished with nine total hits
• The Johnnies just finished with five hits, leaving five players on base

 
GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS (12-8 Loss)

• The Cardinals managed to get two runners on to open the first in game number two, but the Johnnies were able to put a stop to it and escape without giving up any runs. In the bottom half, their bats got going. A leadoff hit batsman followed by a single had runners on the corners with nobody down. Max Nyrop sent a fly ball to right field that worked as a sacrifice fly and the Johnnies led 1-0
• Wesleyan came back with the equalizer in the 2^nd. Evan Diaz '25 stole second and third after getting on with a walk. With two outs, Cole Torino '24 sent a groundball to the shortstop who made a throwing error to even the game at one. Saint John's took the lead right back in the bottom half of the inning, putting together to hits before being the beneficiary of a Wesleyan error that scored two, to regain the lead at 3-1 moving into the 3^rd
• There were even more runs in the third, with both teams offenses getting hot. The Cardinals opened it up with Finkel delivering a 3-run shot that put the Cards back in front 4-3. After a single and another runner reaching on an error, Judd stepped up to the plate and came through with another big hit, this time a 2-run single and Wesleyan extended their lead to 6-3. In the bottom half the Johnnies came right back again, producing eight runs on eight hits to take a commanding 11-6 advantage
• Both offenses were unable to produce runs in the next two innings, with each leaving two men on base in the 5^th. In the 6^th Wesleyan fought back, with two outs Ernie Little '26 singled home two and cut the deficit to just three going into the bottom of the 6^th. Unfortunately for the Cards, the Johnnies offense came back with a run of their own to go back up four heading into the final frame. Wesleyan would go down in order in the 7^th and Saint John's took game two, 12-8

NOTES:

• The Cardinals used four pitchers in this one, with the best performance coming from Ian Appleby '24 (1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 K) who completed a scoreless inning of relief in the 5^th
• Finkel (2-for-4, 1 R, 3 RBIs) was one of three Cards with multiple hits, also tying a career-high with three RBIs. The two other Cardinals with multiple hits were Sylvester (2-for-3, 2 R) and Little (2-for-3, 1 R, 2 RBIs)
• Diaz had a career-high three stolen bases, while Finkel landed his first home run of his Cardinals' career
• Wesleyan finished with nine hits compared to the Johnnies 15. The 15 hits given up is the 2^nd most this season

UP NEXT:
Wesleyan continues their spring break trip in Arizona with a game against Luther tomorrow, March 19^th at 12 pm.