Playing its fifth and sixth games in only three days, the baseball team showed signs of fatigue from its grueling schedule, as LeMoyne swept Cornell, 2-0 and 19-5, yesterday at Hoy Field.
The Red was held to just five hits in Game 1 while both of the Dolphins’ runs were unearned. Cornell swung the bats better in Game 2, but left 13 men on base while committing four errors in the loss. Cornell’s losing streak has now hit double digits as the Red fall to 5-19, 1-7 Ivy, while LeMoyne improves to 15-10, 5-4 MAAC.
“It’s a lot of baseball … It’s even longer when you lose all six,” said junior pitcher Jim Hyland. “But we all love it, that’s why we do it.”
Hyland started Game 1 for the Red, and tossed three innings of two-hit ball, walking one while striking out three.
“I felt pretty good today. My fastball had some good pop on it. I would have liked to have thrown some more offspeed pitches for strikes but overall I felt like I pitched well.”
Junior Adam Loeding pitched the fourth and took the loss after allowing an RBI-single that scored LeMoyne’s Ben Gaal, who’d reached base on error.
Freshman Chris Carls closed out the game, pitching three innings of one-run ball, but the Dolphins’ Ryan Woods pitched the final 1 1/3 innings without allowing a hit.
Senior Michael Weiss and freshman Nate Ford paced the Red at the plate, as each went 2-for-3 on the day and Ford hit his first double of the season.
“I think it’s been kind of the story of the last couple games, last couple weeks for that matter. We just didn’t swing it,” said head coach Tom Ford. “We were kind of holding ourselves back – it’s been kind of a team slump.”
The Red’s woes continued into Game 2 as Lemoyne pounded out 16 hits on the way to its 19-5 victory.
“When they put the ball in play that often you get on your heels a little bit,” Ford said.
Junior Kevin Conlin got the nod, but ran into a rejuvenated Dolphins’ lineup.
Conlin allowed four hits in the first inning, all groundball singles, but with the help of a few errant throws, the Red found itself down 4-0, after only one inning. Conlin again got into trouble in the second, and was credited with five runs, all but one unearned, as Cornell committed three errors in the inning.
Freshman Stephen Osterer replaced Conlin, but had similar luck, giving up seven runs on six hits in 2 1/3 innings of work. Sophomore Antonio Cardona settled down after allowing a three-run homer in the fourth to pitch the final 3 2/3 innings of the game.
Down nine runs in the second, Cornell began to show some life, getting three runs back thanks to hits from sophomore Ry Kagan, junior Kaleb Hutchinson, senior co-captain Seth Gordon and Ford. However, the game was never really in question as the Dolphins would add another nine runs over the third and fourth.
Sophomore Brian Kaufman led the way for the Red, going 2-for-4, with a double, a triple and an RBI. Freshman Casey Brett also notched his first hit with Cornell, smashing a double down the right field line in the fifth.
“Everyone goes through phases, and hopefully today is going to be a turnaround for me,” Kaufman said. “I felt a lot more comfortable at the plate. I just tried to relax and get my hands through, instead of worrying about everything that was going on. Unfortunately, we found ourselves in a game today where you could work on some things and relax.”
Archived article by Paul Testa
Sun Assistant Sports Editor