Baseball Drops 9-3 Final to Wesleyan
NEW LONDON, Conn. – Mitchell College dropped a 9-3 final to visiting Wesleyan University on Tuesday afternoon in a non-conference baseball showdown at Alumni Field.
The Cardinals (16-8 overall) swatted three home runs in the game and got a solid performance from starting pitcher Alec Olmstead, who gave up two runs on only one hit in 6.0 innings of work. Danny Rose led the charge at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a homer and two RBI.
It was a scoreless game until Wesleyan put up three runs in the top of the third inning. Collin Andrews got things going with a one-out single to left, and he later scored on a throwing error after Tanner Fulkerson singled and got hung up between first and second base. Fulkerson then scored on a ground out by Andrew Keith to make it 2-0, and Rose capped the rally with his first round-tripper of the year over the left-field fence.
A pair of errors proved costly for Mitchell in the fourth. The first two Wesleyan batters reached on miscues and later scored in the frame to expand the lead to 5-0. The Cardinals loaded the bases with no outs and plated a run on a double play, and Andrews followed with a two-out double to center to knock in another.
Will O'Sullivan and Matt Jeye provided back-to-back homers in the fifth to increase the margin to 7-0. There were two outs in the frame when O'Sullivan ripped a shot down the left-field line for his first long ball of the season. Jeye then clubbed his third of the spring to virtually the same spot.
The Mariners got on the scoreboard with three runs in the seventh. Olmstead issued two walks to start the inning before turning the ball over to his bullpen. Mitchell pushed across runs on a sacrifice fly by Brody Adams, a ground out by Mike Jason and a single by Tristan Hurley to cut the deficit to four. The Cardinals turned to reliever Ryan Earle for the final out of the inning, and he stranded a pair of runners by getting a ground out to first to end the rally.
Wesleyan added a pair of insurance runs in the ninth behind an RBI single by Rose and an RBI double by O'Sullivan. Earle pitched around two errors in the home half to secure his fourth save of the season. He didn't allow a hit in 2.1 innings and struck out two.
Mitchell (18-10 overall) will next host Nichols College on Wednesday, April 19 at 3:30 p.m. Wesleyan returns to action at Middlebury College on Friday, April 21 at 4 p.m.