AMHERST, Mass. – The No. 25 Amherst College baseball team fell to Little Three rival Wesleyan University, 13-5 in Friday afternoon's NESCAC West tilt at Memorial Field.

RECORDS
Wesleyan (19-9, 6-4 NESCAC West)
Amherst (20-9, 6-4 NESCAC West)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Amherst and Wesleyan each plated two runs in the first inning to make it a 2-2 contest, before the Cardinals blasted two hits over the fence in the third to take a 4-2 lead.
• The Purple & White responded with a run in the bottom of the third to cut their deficit to one (4-3), before Wesleyan notched its third homer of the game in the fifth and added another run in the seventh to take a 6-3 lead.
• Amherst's would tally a run in both the eighth and ninth, however a seven run ninth inning by the Cardinals would propel Wesleyan to the 13-5 victory.
  
• Tabbed with the start, Jackson Volle '17 (6-1) tossed 5.1 innings for the Purple & White, allowing five runs on nine hits while striking out five. Entering in relief, Mike Castiglie '17 pitched 0.2 innings, going hitless and fanning one. Chris Baldi '17 took the mound in the seventh, giving up six hits and seven runs in 2.1 innings. John Vasiliu '19 pitched the final 0.2 innings for Amherst, allowing two hits and a run.
• Nick Miceli (6-1) earned the win for Wesleyan, giving up seven hits and five runs in 8.1 innings on the mound. Asher Young pitched 0.2 innings in relief, going hitless and striking out one.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• The Cardinals took a 2-0 lead in their opening at bat as Marco Baratt ground-rule doubled to center field with two outs to score Jordan Farbe and Guy Davidson.
• Amherst responded in the bottom half of the first to even the game at 2-2. With runners on second and third and one out, Dave Cunningham '16 singled through the right side to plate Yanni Thanopoulos '17 before Conner Gunn '16 singled to left field a batter later to send Harry Roberson '18 home.
• Leading off for Wesleyan in the top of the third, Guy Davidson and Jordan Farbe recorded back-to-back homers to regain a two-run lead for the Cardinals, 4-2.
• The Purple & White made it a 4-3 game in the bottom half, as Gunn sent a sacrifice fly into center field to score Thanopoulos.
• Marco Baratt tallied Wesleyan's third home run of the game in the fifth, sending a shot over the right center field wall to extend the Cardinals lead to two.
• Ellis Schaefer singled down the right field line to score Matt Jeye in the seventh (6-3), however Anthony Spina '17 was able to stop the Cardinal rally a batter later, fully laying out to register the third out with a diving catch in left center.
• Amherst recorded its fourth run of the matchup in the eighth as Cunningham was able to cross the plate before the final put out on a double play ball.
• The Cardinals responded in the top of the ninth with seven runs of their own, before the Purple & White plated a final run in the bottom of the inning to close out the game.
  
• Thanopoulos finished 2-for-4 with two to pace the Purple & White offense, while Gunn went 1-for-1 with two RBI's.
• Davidson went 4-for-5 with a homer, three runs and three RBI's for the Cardinals, while Farber and Barratt each finished 3-for-5 with a home run.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Wesleyan held a 17-7 edge in hits in the matchup.
• The Purple & White combined for seven strike outs and six walks, while the Panthers walked three and fanned five. 
• Amherst finished 3-for-10 (.300) with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base, while Middlebury went 6-for-15 (.400) with runners on second and third and stranded 10. 

UP NEXT 

• Amherst and Wesleyan face off in a doubleheader at Dresser Diamond in Middletown, Conn. tomorrow, April 30 at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.