By Harry Davis
Staff Writer
On Friday, March 30, the Sewanee baseball team won 3-1 at home to start the weekend before they split the games on Saturday, March 31, in which they won 3-2 and lost 8-3.
The Hendrix Warriors entered the weekend with a record of eight wins and 16 losses. The Warriors were in the midst of a slide, having lost five out of their last six games, including a 16-6 loss to Berry. The Warriors’ pitching had been inconsistent at best; they allowed 18 hits, then three, and then 22 hits in their losses to Berry College. The Tigers returned to play after winning one out of three games against Oglethorpe University over spring break.
In the first game, Hendrix scored the first run, but the Tigers turned a double play off the next hit before they finished out the inning one batter later. The Warriors ended the first inning with three outs on four pitches. The second inning began with three fielding outs by the Tigers. The bottom of the second started with Drew Mancuso (C’18) doubling to right field; he would later score off a single by Jack Galanek (C’21) before two fly outs ended the inning.
Hendrix’s offense continued to struggle, with three outs on the first three batters. Sewanee continued with the consistent offense as Jared Demkowicz (C’20) doubled to center field; he then advanced to third base before he scored from a sacrifice fly by Tyler Dunbar (C’21).
At the end of three innings, the score was 2-1 Sewanee. For the next couple innings, both offenses stalled, managing only two hits by both teams in the fourth and fifth innings.
This lack of offense for Hendrix continued into the sixth inning as they got three outs on four batters.
Sewanee’s Trey Akins (C’19) singled to get to first base. Hendrix then got two straight outs to put the pressure on the Tigers. Galanek singled to right center, which pushed Akins to second base, and Dunbar singled down the life to bring Akins home to make the score 3-1 with three innings left. Sewanee then closed out the game as the Hendrix offense continued to struggle.
The second game of this three-game series played much like the first. Hendrix scored the first run in the second inning and the Tigers scored two in the fifth inning. Jake Woolard (C’21) homered to right field and Riley Brandvold (C’19) scored off a hit by Derek Hullings (C’18). Akins scored one in the sixth inning to set up the same defense close out as last game. Hendrix scored one run late to make the score 3-2.
The last game of the series started off offensively as both teams scored two in the first inning. Hendrix’s offense slowed momentarily before they scored three runs in the fourth inning to Sewanee’s one run. The Warriors scored two more in the sixth and one more in the seventh inning to finalize the score at 8-3.
Overall, it was a very positive weekend for the Tigers, as they have now won three of their last four games. Sewanee looks to continue their improved play against Millsaps on Saturday, April 7, and Sunday, April 8.