Considering the way LeMoyne has hit against the baseball team this season, SeaWorld may want to think about adding a batting cage to its dolphin tanks. Syracuse’s own resident Dolphins pounded out 24 hits over two games to sweep yesterday’s doubleheader against the Red, 15-3 and 6-4.
Perfect in four games this season against Cornell (8-22, 4-8 Ivy), LeMoyne (20-11, 7-5 MACC), out-hit the Red, 48-24, and out-scored its upstate rival, 46-15.
The Red held the Dolphins’ bats in check for most of Game 1, and were down only 4-3 going into the bottom of the sixth when LeMoyne exploded for 11 runs on 10 hits – including three doubles and a three-run homer – on the way to its 15-3 win.
“We played well defensively for the most part. … [But] in the bottom of the sixth I feel like every ball they hit was finding a hole,” said senior co-captain Seth Gordon. “Give the hitters credit with that too though. Our pitchers were making some pretty good pitches and they were hitting the ball pretty solid.”
Sophomore Brian Kaufman, coming off last week’s Ivy League Player of the Week performance, continued to swing the bat well going swatting a two-run homer for the Red, and Gordon went 1-for-4 with a double and run in Game 1. Six LeMoyne players had multi-hit games. Dolphins’ leadoff hitter Keith Connors lead the way, hitting a triple short of the cycle with three runs and four RBIs.
Cornell sent freshman Chris Carls (0-3) to the mound in Game 1. After getting into a jam early and allowing two runs in the first inning, Carls settled down to hold the Dolphins scoreless in the second and third innings. But he would pick up the loss on the day, allowing six hits and three runs while striking out three.
“He’s a good young freshman, very composed very relaxed on the mound, and he’s done a great job all year,” Gordon said. “He has great stuff. His curveball is one of the best I’ve seen and his fastball has a lot of movement on it which I think gives a lot of hitters trouble.”
While Carls’ found his groove, his teammates were having some trouble getting started against LeMoyne starter Brian Pullyblank. Pullybank, who pitched five innings in the win, retired 10 of the first 14 batters he faced and didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning.
LeMoyne pushed its lead to four thanks to an RBI-double in the fourth by Stephen Crawford and a solo home run given up by Cornell’s sophomore Kaleb Hutchinson who had come in to relieve Carls in the fifth.
The Red mounted a comeback in the top of the sixth. Gordon’s leadoff double setup a two-run homer from Kaufman, and sophomore Jimyy Heinz added another run with an RBI-single to score freshman Brant Mckown.
However, the comeback was stopped short in the bottom of the inning by LeMoyne’s 11-run explosion.
Cornell looked ready to turn the tables on LeMoyne in Game 2, as the Red jumped out to an early 3-0 lead thanks to doubles by McKown, and sophomores Ryan Michael and Ry Kagan.
However, the Dolphins cut the deficit by two runs in the second, with a pair of RBI singles, and took the lead in a three-run third inning, capped off Phil St. Amant’s two-run shot over the center field fence. The Dolphins added an insurance run in the fifth to make the game 6-3. It would be unneeded, as the Red managed only hit against LeMoyne’s pitchers after the first inning.
Sophomore Anotonio Cardona pitched a complete game in the loss, allowing six runs on six hits, while striking out seven. The start was Cardona’s first of the year, and only his second appearance on the mound – his first also coming against LeMoyne on April 11.
“Antonio did a great job today, I was very impressed with him and so was everybody else,” Gordon said. “This was his first year pitching he’s really made a lot of good improvements, he really went out there today and kept us in the ball game.”
Archived article by Paul Testa
Sun Assistant Sports Editor