TUCSON, Az. – The Arizona sun continues to shine on the Wesleyan baseball team who improved to 5-0 on the season after sweeping Wednesday's doubleheader, 11-6 over Hamline and 19-1 over Augsburg, from the Kino Sports Complex. Wesleyan is 5-0 for the first time since 2017.
 
Game one saw the Cardinals score six unanswered runs while getting five shutout innings in relief from Matt Spada '26 to defeat the Pipers, 11-6 in a nine-inning contest.
 
The two sides traded blows for the first five innings, with Hamline leading 2-0, 4-2, 5-4, and 6-5, before the 6-0 scoring run in over the final four innings sealed the Cardinal victory. Wesleyan scored two in the bottom of the 2^nd with Jack Carpenter '25 hitting a one-out triple before coming in to score on a Jack Nally '24 sacrifice fly. Three straight two-out singles followed, the third of which being an RBI knock from Cole Torino '24.
 
James Marsden '26 homered for the second straight game in the 3^rd inning and Luke LaSaracina '25 came through with a sacrifice fly later in the frame to again tie the score at 4-4. Another two-out run came in the 4^th when Marsden drove home Torino on a single that made it 5-5.
 
Wesleyan took their first lead of the game in the 5^th as Nally and LaSaracina wreaked havoc on the basepaths, eventually scoring on a throwing error on what was a double steal play. Torino later reached on a fielder's choice that scored LaSaracina as the Cardinals led 7-6 after five.
 
The Cardinals tacked on one run in the 7^th as Tyler Cosgrove '25 lofted a sacrifice fly, the third of the game for Wesleyan, to score Ernie Little '26. Wesleyan then broke the game open with two more runs in the 8^th as LaSaracina came through with a two-run single.
 
Wesleyan amassed 14 hits in the win, with LaSaracina, Carpenter, and Little each recording three-hit games. LaSaracina finished 3-for-3 with 2 RBI and three runs scored. Carpenter went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. Little came up with a 3-for-6 performance with 1 RBI and one run scored.
 
Spada stymied the Hamline offense, holding the Pipers to just one hit over five shutout innings of relief. The lefty struck out four batters and walked only two as he held Hamline in-check after the Pipers totaled six runs and nine hits across the first four innings of the game. For Spada, this marked his first career win.
 
Game two saw the Cardinals take on Augsburg for the third time in the past three days, as Wesleyan swept the Auggies on Monday with 7-6 and 10-2 wins. The third meeting was a one-sided affair as the Cardinals won, 19-1, in seven innings.
 
Wesleyan totaled 14 hits for the second time on the day and went off for an 11-run 6^th inning to turn this contest into a blowout. Six of the Cardinals' hits went for extra bases including two triples for Torino while Marsden went deep for the third consecutive game. Ian Appleby '24 was tremendous in his first start of 2024, going six shutout innings, allowing four hits and one walk with two strikeouts on 105 pitches.
 
The Cardinals batted around in the 3^rd inning, building a 4-0 advantage. The first three batters all reached base before Cosgrove drove in Christian Boudreau '25. Marsden later came through with a two-out RBI single to center and Connor Sullivan '26 made it 4-0 with a two-run single to right on the next at-bat.
 
The monstrous 11-run 6^th inning saw Wesleyan lead off the inning with eight straight batters reaching base safely, including three straight RBI walks from Torino, Cosgrove, and Evan Diaz '25. Marsden then stepped in and drove out a grand slam over the right field fence, making it 12-0 Wesleyan.
 
The inning was far from over as Sullivan tripled to right and later came in to score on a Boudreau bunt down the third base line. Torino then tripled to right, driving in two, and Cosgrove finished up the scoring with an RBI double to left that made it 16-0 Cardinals.
 
Marcus Jang '26 recorded his first career hit in the 7^th inning, a triple to right that plated Ethan Diaz '25 and Carpenter. Jimmy Clifford '23 then singled in his first at-bat of the season, scoring Jang.
 
Augsburg broke up the shutout bid with a two-out RBI infield single, but Marsden finished off the game in relief of Appleby as the Cardinals won by the 18-run margin.
 
Marsden continues his torrid pace, homering for the third straight game and finishing 2-for-4 at the plate with 5 RBI. Through five games, the sophomore is batting .471 (8-for-17) with six extra-base hits (one double, two triples, three home runs) and 13 RBI.
 
Torino had a big day against Augsburg, going 3-for-5 with two triples, 3 RBI, four runs scored, and one walk. Boudreau went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and 1 RBI. Sullivan finished 2-for-4 with 2 RBI and one run scored while Cosgrove went 1-for-3 with 4 RBI.
 
Wesleyan's next contest won't be until Saturday when the Cardinals take on Hamline at 4 PM (PST) / 7:00 PM (EST).