With three important wins this weekend on the road against Ivy League competitors Penn and Columbia, the Yale baseball team has much to be proud of.
The Bulldogs (14-10, 3-1 Ivy) kicked off their Ivy League season with an impressive road trip. The first stop of the weekend was at Columbia (6-19, 4-4), where the Bulldogs split a two-game series with the Lions. The Elis then headed to Philadelphia, where they swept their doubleheader with the Quakers (6-18, 2-6). Yale has compiled an impressive record despite playing only one game at home thus far.
In the Saturday matinee, Yale took an early 1-0 lead in the second inning with a Jake Doyle ’07 RBI single, and added two more runs in the fifth. Captain Alec Smith ’06 took the hill and hurled four shutout innings before the Lions were able to rally for four runs in the bottom of the fifth. Not to be shown up, the Bulldogs put two on the board in the sixth and tacked on an insurance run in the seventh.
The back of the bullpen shut the game down with two and one-third scoreless innings from Adam Barrick ’06 and Matt Fealey ’06, who picked up his third save of the season. Designated hitter John Janco ’06 had his fourth home run of the year in the contest.
The Bulldogs did not fare as well in the second game of the series, in which a costly Eli error helped the Lions’ bats rule the day. Starter Mike Mongiardini ’07 was touched for six runs, though only two were earned. Home runs from designated hitter Charles Bush ’09 and shortstop Justin Ankney ’06 were not enough to get the Bulldogs back on top.
“I just try to do the best I can whenever they call my number,” Bush said. “We played well, but we’ve got to take care of business at home.”
Righthander John Henry Davis ’08 turned in a notable performance in the loss, tossing three and two-thirds innings of hitless relief with three strikeouts. Davis has yet to allow a run this season over nine innings of work.
In the first game of the Penn series, Jon Hollis ’06 got his season back on track with a solid start. Hollis turned in a five and one-third inning performance, in which he allowed three earned runs and struck out one. The Quakers and the Bulldogs were deadlocked at three runs apiece until the seventh inning, when left fielder Josh Cox ’08 blooped an RBI single into left field. Fealey, Barrick and closer Brett Rosenthal ’07 combined to pitch a hitless ninth, and Rosenthal picked up his seventh save of the season.
In the second game, the Bulldog bats exploded for 10 runs, including a 4-for-5, 4 RBI performance from first baseman Marc Sawyer ’07. In addition to going 9-for-16 on the weekend, Sawyer extended his impressive hitting streak, which now stands at 13 games. Sophomore Chris Wietlispach ’08 gave up four earned runs and struck out five in six innings of work, improving to 3-0 on the season. Despite being the youngest member of the starting four, Wietlispach has proven he is a force to be reckoned with.
“I felt pretty good today, and I was happy to get early run support.” Wietlispach said. “Right now I’m working on repeating my motion and not putting runners on base.”
The lethal combination of Fealey and Barrick again spelled trouble for opposing hitters, tossing a combined three scoreless innings of relief.
“The pitching staff as a whole has been a strong point for the team. We at the back of the pen feed off each other,” Barrick said. “Nobody wants to be the weak link, but if something goes wrong, we all feel confident that one of us will pick the others up.”