Joe Giaimo (Gr.) homered in both games and finished the day 6-for-9 to lead Wesleyan University to a sweep of Hamilton College in a NESCAC West Division doubleheader at Hamilton's Royce Field on April 21.
Wesleyan (17-13 overall, 6-3 NESCAC West) won the first game 8-5 and took the nightcap 13-1.
In Game 1, Giaimo was a perfect 3-for-3 with a home run and a double. Giaimo drove in four runs and scored two others. Donnie Cimino '15 had two hits, scored twice and drove in a run, and Kyle Weiss '12 doubled and scored two runs. Alex Meadow '12, David Skura '12, Sam Goodwin-Boyd '15, Chris Bonti '13 and Andrew Yin '15 finished with one hit apiece.
Starting pitcher Brett Yarusi '12 pitched 4.2 innings and earned the win. Yarusi scattered five hits, gave up two earned runs, walked three batters and struck out five. Jimmy Hill '14 came on in relief in the fifth inning and retired two batters. Sam Elias '15 pitched 1.2 scoreless innings of relief.
Gabe Klein '13 went a perfect 3-for-3 to lead the Continentals' offense. Klein cracked his eighth double and drove in a run. Sam Fuentes '13 and Sam Choate '12 finished with one hit and one RBI apiece, and John Wulf '12 singled and scored two runs. Lukas Bridenbeck '13 and Glenn de Marrais '15 had the other two hits. Starting pitcher Ryan Crawford '15 worked all seven innings and suffered the loss. Crawford surrendered eight runs, but only four were earned.
Wesleyan jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Weiss doubled to lead off and moved to third on a groundout by Meadow. Cimino hit a single to second base that scored Weiss, and Giaimo capped the inning with a single up the middle that scored Cimino. The Cardinals stretched their lead to 5-0 in the top of the third inning on a pair of RBI singles by Skura and and Goodwin-Boyd.
Hamilton (6-23, 2-7) got a run back in the bottom half of the inning when Wulf drew a one-out walk, advanced to third on Klein's double and scored on a groundout by Choate.
Giaimo smashed a three-run home run in the top of the fourth inning to push the Cardinals' lead to 8-1. Klein's RBI single as part of a two-run fifth inning pulled the Continentals within 8-3.
Hamilton added two more runs in the sixth inning to cut its deficit to 8-5. Klein and Choate led off the seventh with back-to-back singles and the Continentals had the tying run at the plate. But Elias got a pop-up in the infield, a putout at second on a fielder's choice and a strikeout to end the game.
In Game 2, Jeff Blout '14 started on the mound and pitched seven scoreless innings to earn the win. Blout surrendered two hits, walked five batters and struck out five. Chris Law '14 came on in relief in the eighth inning and allowed one run on two hits over the final two innings.
Bonti paced the Cardinals' offense with three hits, including a home run. Bonti drove in three runs and scored three others. Giaimo finished with three hits, including a double and a home run, scored three runs and drove in two. Weiss singled twice, doubled and scored two runs. Yin collected three singles and two runs, and Goodwin-Boyd added a two-run single.
Klein accounted for the Continentals' run with the first home run of his Hamilton career. Klein also drew a pair of walks. Bridenbeck, Wulf and Colin Henneberger '14 each added singles. Starting pitcher JJay Lane '15 pitched 7.2 innings and suffered the loss.
Wesleyan jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Weiss singled through the left side to lead off and later scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Giaimo.
Bonti smacked a two-run home run to left center field to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead after four innings. An unearned run in the fifth inning made it 4-0, and Weiss's RBI groundout in the sixth inning scored Bonti for a 5-0 lead.
Wesleyan scored five runs and batted around in the top of the eighth inning. Yin, Bonti, Moran and Cimino all singled in the frame, and Giaimo smacked a double.
Klein's blast to right field in the bottom of the eighth inning pulled Hamilton within 10-1. But that was as close as the Continentals could get, as the Cardinals tacked on three more runs in the top of the ninth inning for the final margin.
Hamilton travels to St. Lawrence University for a non-conference game on Tuesday, April 24, at 4 p.m. Wesleyan travels to Southern Vermont College for a non-conference game on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
