Yale Athletics

The Yale men’s baseball team (5–12, 1–2 Ivy) hit the road over spring recess.

They started in California, playing games in San Francisco and Stockton before going south to play in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Finally, they returned home to New Haven to continue their season play. 

The Bulldogs competed in non-conference games against the University of San Francisco (10–10, 1–5 AAC), University of the Pacific (8–14, 1–5 WCC), McNeese State (16–8, 1–2 Southland) and Quinnipiac University (7–13, 1–2 MAAC) before opening conference play against Cornell University (2–13, 2–1 Ivy).  

In the first game of their doubleheader against San Francisco on Saturday, the Blue and White rallied from an early 1–0 deficit to beat the Dons 3–1, but fell in the next two matchups 4–3 and 13–6. 

Their early-season skid continued against the University of the Pacific, as they fell to the Powercats in a high-scoring nail-biter by a score of 11–10. During the southern portion of their road trip, the Bulldogs dropped all three games against McNeese.

Even after returning home to New Haven, the Blue and White’s struggles continued in a tight 1–0 loss against Quinnipiac.

“The most challenging part of our spring trip was the amount of time that we spent on the road,” head coach Brian Hamm wrote to the News. “We had three very difficult travel days that took a lot out of us, and we played against good competition which is down more than we had anticipated. It took a couple of days being back during the second week of break for us to catch our breath.”

In the last series of the long break from classes, the Bulldogs competed in three games against Cornell. The two teams had a game on Friday and a doubleheader on Sunday at the George H.W. Bush ’48 Field in New Haven. The Elis hoped to rebound as they opened conference play, the most important part of their season.

In the first game of the series, Jimmy Chatfield ’24 got the scoring started with a homer to left field in the fourth inning to bring Jeff Pierantoni ’24 home, giving the Bulldogs a 2–0 lead. In the fifth, Pierantoni singled to right field to drive teammate Jake Williams ’24 home, scoring the third and last run for the Bulldogs. 

The Bulldogs held the lead until the top of sixth, when the Big Red scored four runs to take a 5–3 lead. The Bulldogs were not able to even the score with any further runs and the game ended 5–3.

In the top of the eighth, Daniel Cohen ’26 relieved Reid Easterly ’24 on the mound, and right-handed pitcher Colton Shaw ’25 had four strikeouts in 2 innings. 

In their first game on Sunday, the Bulldogs got their season back on track with a dominant 12–2 victory. The Bulldogs blew the game wide open in the first inning, driving in eight early runs. Shaw had a two-run single, bringing Davis Hanson ’26 and Chatfield home. Williams also had a two-run single in the first, bringing Ben Metzner ’23 and Shaw home.

“In the second game I felt we had a lot of energy and came together as a team to bounce back from the game one loss,” Hayden Sobecki ’25 said.

Easterly started on the mound for the Blue and White and pitched a strong game. In the top of the eighth, Cleary took over for Easterly. 

In their night game on Sunday, the Bulldogs fell with a close loss of 7–5. Cornell started strong in the first two innings, scoring five runs and taking a 5–1 lead into the third. 

In the bottom of the third, Williams singled to center field, bringing Alec Atkinson ’24 home and scoring the second run for the Bulldogs. Atkinson homered for the Blue and White in the bottom of the fourth, bringing the score to 5–3 against the Big Red Bears. 

The score stayed 5–3 until the top of the seventh when the Big Red homered to left field to bring a run home, making the score 6–3. In the bottom of the eighth, Shaw doubled, bringing Pierantoni and Hanson home. Pierantoni and Hanson scored the last two runs for the Blue and White, finishing the game with a close final score of 7–5.

“We have been attacking the little things because we know that is what will win us games,” Shaw wrote to the News. “Executing the small details on both sides of the ball has been crucial for our success so far, so if we can hammer those things in now we will be in good shape for these upcoming games.”

Looking ahead, the Bulldogs will continue their season with a game against Sacred Heart (11–9, 7–2 Northeast) on Wednesday. The Blue and White will then continue Ivy play with a three game series against Brown University (3–14, 1–2 Ivy) this weekend.