Yale baseball doesn’t mind some home cookin’.
Coming off three wins in four games over Ivy League foes Princeton and Cornell to open their home schedule over the weekend, the Bulldogs (13-16-1, 5-2 Ivy) continued their winning ways by beating up on lowly non-conference opponent Sacred Heart (2-24) by the tune of 12-4 in New Haven.
In a strategy used by head coach John Stuper several times this season to get his pitching staff some work, the nine innings were pitched by nine different Yale hurlers.
Starter Brandon Josselyn ’09 set the tone on the hill for the Bulldogs in his lone inning, retiring the side in order and striking out two in the process.
Josselyn said pitching just one inning doesn’t have an adverse affect on his pitching schedule.
“I throw a bullpen between weekends anyways,” Josselyn explained. “Basically it was a bullpen session with live pitching.”
Will Stratton ’11, Yale’s pitcher for the third inning, saw the most trouble. The freshman allowed two runs on three hits and faced seven batters before recording three outs.
John Henry Davis ’08 and Vinny Lally ’11 were the only other pitchers to allow a run. Each allowed one, in the seventh and eighth innings respectively. Davis’s run was unearned.
Yale’s bats struck first with two runs in the second inning. After two groundouts to Sacred Heart starter Corey Corcoran, Andrew Kolmar ’11 singled through the left side. Fellow freshman Andy Megee ’11 followed with a walk, and a third freshman, shortstop Gant Elmore ’11, doubled to drive Kolmar in. Megee then scored on a wild pitch before Josh Cox ’08 flied out to end the inning.
The Elis responded to two Sacred Heart runs in the third inning with two more of the their own in the fifth. After Megee and Elmore singles and a Ryan Lavarnway ’09 intentional walk to load the bases, Stefan Schropp ’09 singled Elmore and Megee home.
Fueled by four hits and Pioneer mistakes, the Bulldogs exploded for six runs in the sixth to make it 10-2. Elmore continued his stellar day by recording his third hit and second RBI of the game. Sacred Heart didn’t help itself by recording an error, a wild pitch, three walks and a hit by pitch.
The Pioneers added single runs in the seventh and eighth, but it was not nearly enough.
In all, eight Bulldogs had at least one hit and a couple had multi-hit games for the Bulldogs. Elmore ended up with three hits in his three at-bats to go with two RBI and two runs. Second baseman P.J. Gorynski ’08 went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run for the Elis.
Every Bulldog on the roster except for three starting pitchers saw playing time against the Pioneers.
Yale will next take the diamond this weekend in four crucial games against Rolfe division rival Harvard (2-23, 1-7). Sitting in second place in the division at 5-2, the Elis need every win they can get to keep up with Dartmouth (14-9, 7-1) until they square off for four games in nine days in Hanover.
“These games [vs. Harvard] are huge,” Megee asserted. “Dartmouth is playing really well and we have to keep pace.”
Yale had a 1-3 record against the Crimson last season.