The Bison baseball team traveled to Davidson, N.C. from March 3—5. They finished the weekend with a 2-1 record, beating Davidson and Hartford, but dropping their contest against Butler. Their overall record improved to 4-5.

The three-game road trip began against Davidson. The Orange and Blue got off to a quick start when Sam Clark ’17 led off the second inning with a single. After Clark advanced to second base, Keifer Rawlings ’18 recorded a single. With runners on first and third, Evan Klugerman ’19 hit a RBI with a single up the middle, sending Clark home. On the next at-bat, Tyler Wincig ’20 hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Rawlings and putting the Bison up 2-0.

In the fifth inning, Brett Smith ’17 scored the third run for the Bison on a RBI single from Danny Rafferty ’17. Clark and Luke Johnson ’18 then recorded back-to-back singles, loading the bases. Following a RBI double by Rawlings, Johnson stole home base on a wild pitch, putting the Bison up 6-0.

With this comfortable lead, the Bison pulled Connor Van Hoose ’18 from the game after he pitched a shutout through 6.2 innings. Six players recorded two hits for the Orange and Blue in the 8-0 win.

“When our offense puts up eight runs in a game, it makes my job as a pitcher easy,” Van Hoose said.

The Bison aimed to repeat their strong performance against Butler on March 4. Mike Castellani ’17 pitched well, giving up one earned run and seven hits, while recording six strikeouts in 5.1 innings. Jack Simpson ’20 came in from the bullpen to finish, tallying five strikeouts.

In the first inning, the Orange and Blue were able to jump out to a quick lead on a two-out RBI single by Clark. After a series of ties and lead changes, the teams entered the seventh inning tied. JohnPaul Bell ’20 scored the go-ahead run off of a sacrifice fly from Rawlings. However, the Orange and Blue ultimately fell 4-3, after Butler rallied to score two runs in the ninth inning. Eight Bison players recorded hits in the contest.

The Bison was determined to recover from that loss with a win against Hartford. Jeff Gottesman ’19 struck out three batters out in five innings. Lefty phenom Jack Grabek ’19 came in as the relief pitcher, giving up only two hits and one run in the remaining four innings.

Despite the Bison suffering an early deficit, Clark tied the game 3-3 in the fifth inning with a two-run home run. After Hartford regained the lead, Rawlings hit his second collegiate home run, evening the score once again. The Bison proceeded to take the lead and maintain it, scoring three runs in the eighth inning and one more in the ninth to win 9-5.

“It was great to win the weekend. [Van Hoose] came out and set the tone Friday night, while our bats were hot. We lost a tough one Saturday, but bounced back well today with a great team win,” Johnson said.