With a rough stretch of Ivy League competition behind it and a four-game home stand against Dartmouth looming this weekend, the baseball team (9-17, 3-9 Ivy) rallied yesterday to defeat Wagner (11-22-1) 8-1. The Seahawks were last year’s Northeast Conference champs and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Regional Tournament.
The Bulldogs made effective use of the entire pitching corps yesterday, leaving the usual starters well rested for this weekend’s Red Rolfe Division series against the Big Green (11-13, 7-5 Ivy). The hurlers finally found help in the form of some run production, a problem that has plagued the club much of the season.
Centerfielder Chris Elkins ’03 led the Elis at the plate, scoring two runs and driving in three — including a solo homer in the seventh inning.
“It was my second homer of the season. We’re finally starting to put the ball in play,” Elkins said. “When we do that, stuff will happen for us.”
Starter Matt McCarthy ’02 and Doug Feller ’02 held Wagner scoreless through three innings, until Pat Morello sent a solo homer over the fence in the fourth.
But by that point, Yale already had three runs of its own. An RBI triple by Luis Costa ’01 triggered a scoring blitz in the top of the fourth inning, with RBI singles by Kyle Misenti ’04 and Elkins accounting for the other two runs.
“We finally strung together some hits,” Costa said. “We gave the pitching some well-needed runs.”
The Eli pitching remained unflinching. Ivy League co-Pitcher of the Week Craig Breslow ’02 relieved Feller at the beginning of the fifth and picked up right where he left off at the end of his one-hit win against Harvard last Friday. He held the Seahawks hitless in a two-inning tour of duty.
Sophomore Eric Naison-Phillips had the longest pitching stint of the day for Yale, also holding Wagner hitless for three innings. Ace Jon Stietz ’02 closed up the game, retiring the side in the ninth.
“I’m starting to pitch more consistently,” Naison-Phillips said. “[Yesterday] all of the pitchers threw strikes.”
A four-run ninth inning for the Bulldogs was the icing on the cake. Four different Elis scored in that inning, including Steven Duke ’03, Kieth Reams ’02 and Elkins.
The Big Green took three games from division foe Brown last weekend, leaving them tied with Harvard for second in the Red Rolfe Division. Last year, Dartmouth was the division champ.
Senior co-captain Brian Nickerson — last year’s Ivy League Player of the Year — leads a powerful offense that is laden with veteran hitters. Fellow co-captain Joe Rockers batted .357 with a homer and four RBIs against Brown. Larry Feh, a converted infielder who is 2-2 this season with a 2.70 ERA, has fleshed out a pitching staff that was already 10 pitchers deep. Only eight Yale pitchers, two of whom are freshman, have seen action this season.
It will take a combination of effective pitching and run production like the Elis mustered yesterday — one that has otherwise been elusive this season — for Yale to carry its midweek success into the Dartmouth games.
McCarthy and Feller will start Saturday’s games, with Breslow and Steitz following suit Sunday. Naison-Phillips and the rest of the staff will be ready to come on in the middle innings, as they have several times this season.
“At this point, I’m the first guy out of the bullpen,” Naison-Phillips said.
If Naison-Phillips’ teammates can carry yesterday’s offensive production into the weekend, he thinks the weekend should be competitive.
“Dartmouth isn’t the same team as last year,” Naison-Phillips said. “We can play with them.”
Despite being four games behind division leader Brown, the Bulldogs hope to put together enough league wins this weekend to salvage their season and move themselves back into the upper tier of the Red Rolfe Division.
“We’ll go out fighting,” said Costa, when asked how he would like to finish out his senior season.
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