MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – After a two-run 6^th inning for the Wesleyan baseball team tied the score at 2-2, Nichols responded with a seven-run 7^th inning which proved more than enough in a 9-5 win over the Cardinals on Wednesday afternoon from Dresser Diamond.
 
The Bison had an opportunity to jump out to an early lead with runners on third and first with no one out in the 1^st inning, but the starter Dariusz Lukowski '27 got a strikeout and then an inning-ending double play ball to shortstop that kept the game scoreless.
 
Nichols did take a lead in the 2^nd inning when Ryan Keating hit a leadoff home run to right field and after back-to-back singles, Andrew Croteau lofted a sacrifice fly to center that made it 2-0 Bison.
 
Wesleyan had their first big chance in the 3^rd inning when Ernie Little '26 hit a leadup single up the middle and then advanced all the way to third on a fielding error by the center fielder. With Little on third and no one out, the Cardinals were unable to plate a run as two strikeouts and a ground out back to the mound kept Nichols in front.
 
With Nichols still leading 2-0 heading into the 6^th, Wesleyan got on the board with Luke LaSaracina '25 hitting a sharp liner out to right center as the ball rolled all the way to the warning track, allowing two runs to score while LaSaracina slid in safely at third for a triple.
 
The game then took a deciding turn in the top of the 7^th when Nichols sent 13 batters to the plate, scoring seven runs on five hits to take a commanding 9-2 lead. The first six batters in the inning reached base safely while Anthony Hackert had a two-run single to left that capped the scoring in the inning.
 
The Cardinals came back with three runs in the bottom half of the inning, with Jake Acker '27 coming through with an RBI double to left before Jack Carpenter '25 hit an RBI single to right that made it 9-4 with the bases loaded and one out. Connor Sullivan '26 was next up and he hit a liner to left that scored a run. With the game-tying run on-deck and two outs, LaSaracina couldn't extend the inning as he struck out to keep the Bison up by four.
 
Wesleyan could only manage one baserunner across the final two innings as Nichols finished off the 9-5 win.
 
The two sides combined for 23 hits with six batters coming through with multi-hit games. Timmons went 2-for-2 with two walks in his four plate appearances while Little was 2-for-5 at the plate.
 
Malcolm Hsu '25 threw three scoreless innings in relief, allowing just two hits with no walks and two strikeouts. Hudson Green '28 went 1.2 scoreless innings with two strikeouts and James Marsden '25 worked a scoreless ninth inning while Sebastian Fuentes '28 threw a scoreless sixth inning.
 
Next up for Wesleyan is a three-game NESCAC weekend series against Hamilton at home. The two sides play one game on Friday at 4 PM and follow with a Saturday doubleheader starting at Noon.