Logo: Wesleyan Athletics

Cards Surrender Lead in 6th vs. St. John Fisher & Kenyon on Day Two of the Tucson Invitational

swetebernstein09

Facing St. John Fisher for the second straight day Thurs., March 12 in Tucson, the Cardinals faired much better the second time, taking a 1-0 lead into the sixth inning behind the pitching of Chelsea Swete '11 (#6, main photo). But SJF got a solo home run to lead off the sixth and scored another on a sacrifice fly to pull out a 2-1 win. Meaghan Dendy '10 scored the Wesleyan run in the first inning on an RBI single by Chrissy Bello '12. 

Against Kenyon in the day's second contest, the Cardinals built a 6-2 lead in the top of the fifth thanks to a double and triple from Dendy, leading to three RBI, and three hits and two RBI by Talia Bernstein '11 (#9, photo insert lower left). Over the two games, Bernstein hit .714 with five hits in seven at-bats, raising her seasonal average to a team-leading .667 through four games. But Kenyon rallied for eight runs in the bottom of the sixth to go ahead, 12-6, and that remained as the final score.

On Fri., March 13, Wesleyan took on Monmouth (IL) and Lubbock Christian, the defending NAIA national champion. The Cardinals had trouble controlling the opposition's bats as Monmouth walked off with a 13-7 victory while undefeated Lubbock (23-0 on the year) handed the Cards an 18-2 setback in five innings.

Bernstein continued her hot hitting vs. Monmouth by stroking three singles in four at-bats while driving in a pair of runs. Bello also had a 3-for-4 game including her second homer of the year. Against Lubbock, Dendy and Julia Chamberlin '09 had second-inning RBI singles for two of Wesleyan's five hits.

The team returns to action Sun., March 15 with Marian (WI) and Denison on the schedule.

(all photos courtesy of Ron Bernstein P'11)