Sports

Baseball and softball hit the ground running

By Jack Vissicchio ’17

As the weather continues to warm up, so do the baseball and softball teams as they look to continue their strong play from spring break.

The baseball team had an unusual and exciting start to its season, when senior Joe Jensen was named the number one overall prospect in Division III by Baseball America. Jensen led the way on offense last season, starting all 26 games and compiling a .398 batting average. He also scored 23 runs and stole 23 bases on 26 attempts and is already Hamilton’s all-time leader in stolen bases. Under the leadership of senior captain JJay Lane, the team got off to its best start in 13 years, going 5-1 during their first six games.

The Continentals began their season with a convincing two game sweep of College of Mount Saint Vincent in Winter Haven, Florida, winning 9-7 and 13-6 respectively. The men were led on offense by Jensen and sophomore Andrew Haser who each contributed a triple and a homer in the two games. On the pitching side, in game one Alex Pachella ’15 earned the win, striking out six over 6.1 innings. He allowed just two earned runs, and improved his career record to 7-4. In game two, Finlay O’Hara ’17 was phenomenal, garnering a career high 10 strikeouts in just six innings, picking up his second career victory.

The team carried this momentum into their next matchup against SUNY Fredonia, but were not quite able to maintain their strong start in game one, blowing a five-run lead going into the fifth inning. It was again Jensen and Haser leading the way on offense, while Ryan Wolfsberg ’17 contributed five hits during the two games. Lane held Fredonia scoreless over the first five innings. Charlie Lynn ’18 came on to close the door for Lane, but struggled in relief, surrendering four runs and was attributed with the loss.  Cole Dreyfuss ’16 lead the way in game two, with a very strong pitching performance, holding Fredonia to just five hits over 6.1 innings as the men cruised to a 12-5 victory.

The men then entered a little bit of a rough patch in their spring break schedule, losing their next two games against University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Elmhurst College. However, they were able to find a way to right the ship against Keuka College, winning 9-4. They were led by another strong pitching performance from Dreyfuss ’16, who struck out nine over seven innings, improving his record to 2-0 on the season. Jensen and Kenny Collins ’17 combined for eight of Hamilton’s season-high 17 hits. Jensen also stole his eighth base of the year and raised his season average to .545 (18 for 33), scoring three runs to go along with his career-best four hits.

Unfortunately, the trip ended on a somewhat of a disappointing note, as the men suffered a sweep at the hands of Colby College. During the two games, defense was a large issue for the Continentals as they made seven errors over the two games, an issue that they are going to need to correct if they want to compete against the best teams in the NESCAC. The men finished their trip going 6-5 overall, and look to bounce back against Wesleyan.

The softball team was also in Florida for their spring break tour, and began their season on a two game losing streak; suffering losses to Babson and the University of New England. Hamilton was held to one hit and shut out over the first six innings of Sunday morning’s opener against Babson, as their rally in the seventh was foiled by Babson’s Meghan Hayes ’15, who collected her third win of the season. Against New England, Olivia Gozdz ’16 hit a two-run home run, putting the Continentals up 2-1 in the first but the women fell behind after allowing a three run third and were never able to regain the lead.

However, the women rebounded in a big way, knocking of #22 William Patterson College 5-3 in their next game, garnering the signature win of their trip. The win over William Patterson snapped an eight-game losing streak to nationally ranked opponents and was the first win for the women against a nationally ranked team since 2003. Hamilton rallied from a 3-0 deficit with Ellie Kiernan ’15 sparking the comeback hitting a game-tying three-run home run. Gozdz drove in the winning run in the top of the sixth, doubling home Hannah Staab ’17, who had led off with a double. Kelly Leonard ’15 shut the door in the seventh inning, retiring the last three batters in a row and putting a stop to William Patterson’s rally.

The Continental women moved on to garner victories against Trinity, Framingham State University, D’Youville Colleg and Carleton College over the rest of their trip, finishing with an overall record of 5-7. There were many bright spots for the women on their trip but none brighter than Gozdz, who was named NESCAC Softball Player of the Week after her strong spring break performance. Gozdz went 15-for-29 in eight games last week. Gozdz batted .517 with an .828 slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .548, recording six multi-hit games. She collected six doubles and a home run, scored eight runs, drove in seven and stole three bases.

Most recently, the women have evened their overall record to 7-7 after opening NESCAC West play with an overwhelming two-game sweep of Amherst College. Unsurprisingly, Gozdz, led the way with an 8-10 performance over the two games. The team also received strong pitching performances from Leonard  and Zoe Singer ’18. Leonard improved her record to 6-2 on the season after her win against Amherst, raising her career win total to 28, which places her second of all-time. She also has placed her self from within two strikeouts of Hamilton’s all-time leader.

Going forward, both teams look to compete for the top spot in the NESCAC West division and make it to the NESCAC tournament.

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