MIDDLETOWN, CT. -  Facing a home crowd for the first time this season, the Wesleyan University baseball team returned to Dresser Diamond in heroic fashion, stunning Amherst College on Sunday afternoon with a doubleheader sweep to take the NESCAC series. Game one ran an 8-7 walk-off victory for Wesleyan before game two returned a 9-4 win.

The Cardinals take the 2-1 series against the Mammoths (11-4 overall, 1-2 NESCAC), holding steady to an early 2-1 NESCAC record as they sit 6-11 overall. Game one began with Shamus Kelly '28 'to pitch but with just two hits the game bled into the bottom of the inning where Tucker DeWolf '28 planted the first run of the game. DeWolf returned a second run at the bottom of the third to give the Cardinals a two-run lead, once again scoring with James Marsden '26 at the plate.

Rallying at the top of the fifth, the Mammoths put two on the board to tie the game and cornered the Cardinals with three more runs in the sixth. Facing the bottom of the inning, Matthew DeBenedictis '29 set the groundwork for what would mirror the final play of the game. Biting a single to centerfield, DeBenedictis sent Jonah Timmons '27 and Sam Hensinger '26 home to bring the game within one run.

Faced with a three-run deficit following two more tallies by the Mammoths, Oliver Kwan '28 singled to center to lead off the seventh inning. Marsden's double to left field advanced Kwan to third while Timmons placed the sophomore at home. Pinch hitting for Timmons, Dylan Harrington '29 reached second on a walk from Hensinger with Marsden now on third. Marsden scored as Jake Acker '27 was walked, closing the Mammoth's lead to one run. DeBenedictis' nailed the walk-off single as the next batter, sending the ball to center to place Harrington and Hensinger on the board for the 8-7 victory.

Kelly pitched five innings, dropping five runs and six hits while striking out five batters. Ned Shapiro '26 earns the win as he closed the game, allowing two runs as he struck out one. DeBenedictis led all Cardinals with four RBI.

Looking to rebound from the loss, the Mammoths climbed to a three-run lead as game two fell underway, leaving the Cardinals to catch up in the second inning. Acker sent a home run ball to left field and DeBenedictis scored with Kwan at the plate.

DeWolf tied the game up at three, scoring the tying run after he stole third base and advanced home on Marsden's hit to the right fielder. William Moore '26 gave the lead to the Cardinals at four, advancing home as Acker was hit at the plate. A late run in the sixth tied the game up again, this time with the Mammoths catching the Cardinals but Kato Mangum's '28 lead-off home run returned the lead.

Mangum's heroics in the seventh inning gave way to runs by Acker and DeBenedictis, his own run would follow on a sacrificed fly. Timmons would go on to score the final run late in the eighth, stealing third before a sacrificed bunt sent him home.

Oliver Dmochowski '27 pitched the first half of the game, striking out two while allowing three runs and three hits. Conor Humowiecki '29 pitched just over four innings, earning the win as he dropped just one run while striking out three. Mangum led all Cardinals from the plate with two runs, two hits, and three RBI.

The Cardinals return to action on Tuesday, March 31, when they host Eastern Connecticut State at 4 p.m.