MIDDLETOWN, CT. – The Wesleyan baseball team played in their first home games of the season Sunday, competing in a double-header against NESCAC opponent Williams. The games doubled as the NESCAC season-openers for both schools, with each team winning one game apiece to open conference play. In game number one they played seven innings, with both teams' pitchers dominating through three. The Ephs got on the board with a one in the 4^th then two more insurance runs in the 7^th to take a 3-0 lead into the final half-inning. Wesleyan added one of their own in the bottom half, but it wasn't enough and Williams took game one 3-1. In game two, it was Williams again who struck first with a run in the opening half inning, eventually building a 5-0 lead in the top of the 4^th. Wesleyan came back with four in the bottom half, but Ephs' pitching was able to hang on from there to win 6-5. With the split, Williams moves to 6-6 (1-1 NESCAC) while Wesleyan moves to 6-8 (1-1 NESCAC).
 
GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS:

• Both pitchers got off to strong starts in the conference opener, with Patrick Murphy '25 and Will Jeffries holding the offenses to a combined two hits through three innings of play. Each of the pitchers had to get out of jams in the 3^rd. Murphy walked two, but stranded them both on base while Jeffries worked out of a basses loaded jam to keep the score deadlocked at zero through three innings of play
• The Ephs bats got going in the 4^th on their second time through the order, putting together three hits that eventually turned into the first run of the game on a James O'Connor single up the middle. Jack Nally '24 hit a one-out double in the bottom half, but the Cards couldn't push him across
• Wesleyan's offense threatened again in the bottom of the 6^th, as after two quick outs they managed to load the bases on a walk, hit by pitch, and an error. Cole Torino '24 was big for the Cards during both games of the double-header, but grounded out with the bases loaded to stay down 1-0 going into the 7^th and final inning. Williams added two more much-needed insurance runs in the top half, before Wesleyan came up for their final at-bats of the game. Christian Boudreau '25 singled to open the inning, but was followed by two straight outs. Dylan Judd '22 then delivered an RBI-double, but that was it as the Cardinals fell 3-1 in game one

 
NOTES:

• Murphy (6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 K's) was impressive through six innings of work, allowing just one run until the 7^th inning. Jeffries (5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 5 BB, 5 K's) was solid for the Ephs as well, pitching 5.2 shutout innings
• Judd (1-for-2, 1 RBI, 2 BB) and Nally (1-for-3, 2B) both had doubles for the Cardinals in game one, the only extra base hits of the contest
• Both teams left a lot of baserunners on, with Wesleyan finishing with 10 left on to the Ephs nine. Williams outhit the Cardinals 5-4

 
GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS:

• Game number two had more offense, and it started early with the Ephs getting on the board in the opening half-inning. Williams managed to get two on with walks to open the game, eventually followed by two singles that drove in one to give them a 1-0 lead. Alex Deutsch '25 battled back, forcing a flyout which stranded the bases loaded and limited the damage. The Cardinals put pressure on Ephs pitching, getting multiple runners on in both the 2^nd and 3^rd innings, but couldn't get one across
• The bats got hot for both teams in the 4^th, combining for eight total runs. Williams got it started in the top half by capitalizing on a pair of Wesleyan fielding errors to push across four runs on only a singular hit, extending their advantage to 5-0. Wesleyan came back with a big half-inning of their own, scoring four runs on six hits to trim the deficit back down to one. The big hits of the inning for the Cards came from a Torino 2-run single up the middle and an Ernie Little '26 2-run single to center that made the score 5-4 heading into the 5^th
• After Evan Diaz '25 doubled to deep left center field, Torino came up big again in the 5^th, driving in another on a single to center that evened the game at five. The Cardinals then took the lead in the 6^th, as Boudreau came around to score after leading the inning off with a single for Wesleyan's first lead of the day. They would hold their one-run advantage the rest of the way thanks to five scoreless innings of relief by David Tirrell '25 and take game two 6-5

 
NOTES:

• Tirrell (5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 5 K's) picked up his 2^nd win of the season, pitching five scoreless innings in relief
• Diaz (3-for-4, 2 R) tied a career-high with three hits, while Torino (2-for-4, 1 R, 3 RBIs) drove in a career-high three RBIs
• Little (2-for-4, 2 RBI) and Nally (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 BB) joined them with multiple-hit days. Jack Sylvester '22 (1-for-5, 2 RBIs) has now hit safely in 13 of 14 games this season
• The Cardinals finish with 12 hits to Williams six. The teams combine to leave 24 baserunners on

 
UP NEXT:
Baseball will compete in their third game in two days against Williams tomorrow, April 3^rd at 4 pm on the campus of the Ephs.