TUCSON, Az. – The bats came alive for the Wesleyan baseball team out in the desert as the Cardinals totaled 35 runs in a doubleheader sweep on Tuesday, defeating Carleton 13-11 and Bates 22-11 in nine-inning contests. Wesleyan improves to 9-1 on the season and have scored 10+ runs in six of their last eight games.
 
The day started with 9:30 AM local time start against Carleton in a game the Cardinals led 8-0 and 13-7, only to need to hold on late as the Knights made a late charge with four runs in the 9^th before Joey Light-Rake '25 finished the job.
 
A positive start saw the Cardinals plate runs in each of the first four innings, including a four-run 1^st as Jack Carpenter '25 knocked in a two-run single followed by an RBI single from James Marsden '26 and Tyler Cosgrove '25 brought in another on an RBI groundout to short.
 
Wesleyan tacked one run in both the 2^nd and 3^rd innings while starting pitcher Ian Appleby '24 was mowing through the Carleton lineup, retiring nine of the first 10 batters through three innings of work.
 
Evan Diaz '25 made it 8-0 Cardinals as he slugged his first home run of the season in the 4^th but the Knights finally got to Appleby with a four-run bottom half of the 4^th as Will Schnepf hit a two-out two-run homer to left to cut the deficit to 8-4.
 
Carleton chased Appleby in the 5^th as the Knights recorded six hits and three runs, lowering the deficit to 8-7 before Light-Rake entered with two on and two outs, inducing an inning-ending groundout to keep the Cardinals out in front.
 
After two scoreless innings, Evan Diaz scored on a wild pitch in the 8^th and then a key four-run top of the 9^th for Wesleyan added some needed insurance runs. Luke LaSaracina '25 and Connor Sullivan '26 drew back-to-back walks before Ernie Little '26 hit a run-scoring single to left. Cole Torino '24 followed with a two-run double to left and Evan Diaz lofted a sacrifice fly to center that made it 13-7 Wesleyan.
 
Light-Rake had found his groove, retiring eight straight batters between the 6^th and 8^th innings, but ran into some trouble in the 9^th as Carleton's first five batters reached base including consecutive run-scoring extra base hits as it was suddenly a 13-11 game with no outs and the tying run at the plate.
 
The junior reliever Light-Rake stayed in the game and that decision paid dividends as Torino made a diving play to his right to snag a lineout and calm the Carleton run. The next two batters both flied out, ending a high-scoring affair that featured 32 combined hits between the two teams.
 
Little finished 4-for-6 with a triple, 1 RBI, three runs scored, and two stolen bases from the leadoff spot while Torino went 3-for-5 with a double, 2 RBI, three runs, and a walk. LaSaracina also recorded a three-hit game, going 3-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored. Evan Diaz hit his first home run of the season and the fourth of his career while adding 3 RBI, two stolen bases, and two runs.
 
Light-Rake picked up his second career win, going 4.1 innings in relief of Appleby, allowing five hits and four runs with three strikeouts.
 
Facing a familiar foe in the Bobcats in game two, Wesleyan continued to mash, scoring 22 runs which is the most for the Cardinals since a 28-12 win over Oberlin on March 21, 2018.
 
Consistent production was the theme in the win over Bates as the Cardinal offense produced at least two runs scored in seven of the nine innings. Starting in the 1^st where Carpenter doubled to center to score two followed by a Sullivan RBI double and an error later scored another to make it 4-0 Wesleyan after one.
 
Wesleyan plated two more in the 4^th and followed with three consecutive four-run innings between the 5^th and 7^th. LaSaracina tripled to lead off the 5^th and later came around on an Ethan Diaz '25 sacrifice fly. With the bases loaded, Matt Halas '24 came through with a two-run single to left and Carpenter singled home another with two outs to give the Cardinals a 10-2 lead.
 
The Cardinal lead then went to 14-2 in the 6^th as five consecutive batters reached base with two outs. Little and Halas were both hit by a pitch and another run came in on an error to make it 12-4. Carpenter and Sullivan each walked home a run to spot Wesleyan the 12-run lead.
 
That double-digit lead would soon shrink to three as Bates plated nine runs in the bottom of the 6^th as the Bobcats batted around, with all nine batters reaching base safely, including a grand slam from Brandon Biggane for the big hit of the inning. Matt Spada '26, who entered on the Biggane at-bat, settled in with three straight outs after the grand slam.
 
Wesleyan's offense then followed with eight unanswered runs over the final three innings, including a four-run 7^th with all four runs being unearned. The Cardinals took advantage of two costly Bobcat errors in the inning, scoring four runs despite just one hit in the frame.
 
Ethan Diaz doubled home a pair in the 8^th inning to make it 20-11 while Sam Hensinger '27 doubled home a run and Christian Boudreau '25 had a run-scoring single in the 9^th to finish off the scoring for the Cardinals.
 
Spada closed the door effectively, seeing just one batter reach safely in each of his final three innings of work as the sophomore earned a 4-inning save, the first of his career. Spada allowed just one hit and one walk with one run allowed and four strikeouts in four innings of relief. Starter Oliver Dmochowski '27 picked up his first career win despite allowing 10 runs in his five innings of work.
 
Seven Cardinals recorded multi-hit games while Wesleyan pilled up seven extra-base hits and stole eight bases in the win. Carpenter led the way going 3-for-6 with a double, 4 RBI, one walk, and two runs scored. Ethan Diaz finished 2-for-4 with a double, 3 RBI, three runs, and one walk. Hensinger hit two doubles while Halas reached base safely in all five plate appearances, finishing 2-for-2 with a triple, 3 RBI, two walks, two runs scored, and a hit by pitch. Little went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI, three runs, two walks, and two steals.
 
Wesleyan has an off day on Wednesday before returning to action with a single game on Thursday against Redlands at 4:00 PM (EST).