One bright spot for the Jeffs was the play of rookie first baseman Dave Levinson, who had two of Amherst's four hits. Senior co-captain Jonah Ansell went the distance on the mound for the Jeffs, giving up only one earned run.
After this lackluster performance, it would have been easy for the Jeffs to give up in game two, but the team fought back to win the nightcap 6-2.
Amherst started off strong, opening the scoring in the bottom of the first. With one out, junior third baseman Matt Potter doubled and came home on senior co-captain catcher Joe Katuska's RBI single. Wesleyan answered in the second to tie the game 1-1. After five scoreless innings, the Jeffs broke the game open in the seventh with four consecutive singles by shortstop Josh Santry '05, designated hitter Tom Sullivan '04, second baseman Fran Morales '04 and outfielder Andrew Green '06. The Jeffs never turned back from that point on.
In the very next inning, Sullivan came through at the plate again with a three-run home run to seal the victory. Santry finished the game with a perfect three-for-three performance at the plate. Junior pitcher Andy Kerns earned the win for the Jeffs in eight innings of five-hit pitching to bring his record to 2-0. Chris Vecsey '03 earned the save with a two-strikeout performance in the ninth inning.
With each team taking a win on Saturday, the final high-pressure meeting of the rivals on Wednesday, April 2 would decide the series. The finisher did not disappoint, as Amherst came back from a four-run deficit in the seventh inning to take the game and the series with a 7-6 win.
The game got off to a slow start as the teams played to a scoreless tie for the first four innings. In the fifth, Amherst put a pair of runs on the board as Sullivan singled and then scored on a wild pitch, and Whiting came home on a Levinson RBI. However, Wesleyan tied it up in the same inning with three hits and a pair of runs. From then on, it was a hitters' battle as the Cardinals put four more runs on the board. It looked like trouble for the Jeffs, down 6-2 going into the seventh inning.
Amherst didn't give up , however, and batted around to convert five hits into five runs and take the game, 7-6. Senior co-captain outfielder Jon Schneider, Whiting, Santry and Potter all came up with clutch singles, and outfielder Dave Powers '05 had the game-winning RBI.
On the mound, Duncan Webb '04 pitched well for 5.1 innings before making way for Vecsey. Coming in with one out and one man on, Vecsey earned his first win of the season with 3.2 innings of shutout ball with six strikeouts. He retired 11 of the last 12 Wesleyan batters.
Vecsey's performances against Wesleyan earned him NESCAC Co-player of the Week. The only southpaw on the team, in 9.1 innings of work Vecsey's ERA is a stellar 0.00. "It's really important that he can come in and shut down any lefty batters," said Morales. "That kind of strength on the mound is a big confidence-booster for the team." Pitching teammate Webb agrees. "[Vecsey is] the most consistent reliever we have and he did a great job against Wesleyan. He's a great asset to the pitching staff," Webb said.
Due to the weather, the Jeffs have only played one other game since their Florida trip. On March 28, in their first game after the week of spring training, Amherst showed the fruits of improvement in a 9-4 victory at Westfield State College.
The Jeffs dominated on offense, banging out 13 hits and playing controlled and calculated defense. Amherst took control from the very beginning, scoring three runs in the opening innings off singles from designated hitter Brett Nicol '03 and Whiting. However, the hot batters of the day were Schneider and Powers. In the sixth inning, Schneider hit his third home run of the season, a two-run shot. His bat stayed strong in the seventh as he added another hit. Powers showed his strength both on the bases and at the plate, executing a first-and-third double steal and finishing with two hits, two walks, an RBI and a run scored. Whiting and Morales each added a pair of hits as well.
Starting pitcher Webb tallied the win, striking out five batters in the first three innings before Ansell took over in the fourth in relief.
Amherst is now 8-4 overall and is ranked seventh in New England. Amherst shares first place in the NESCAC West division standings with Little III rival Williams College.