WENHAM, Mass.—A first-inning explosion was all Gordon Baseball needed to defeat visiting Williams College on Thursday afternoon. The Fighting Scots tagged Ephs' starter Thomas Murphy (Whitinsville, Mass.) for six runs in the bottom of the first and held off a late rally for a 6-4 victory.
Gordon defeated a NESCAC program on consecutive days after beating Trinity (Conn.) on Wednesday, 12-9. The Fighting Scots improve to 9-12 on the season with a win over the Ephs, while Williams drops to 7-13 in 2015.
Gordon's
Colin Strapp (Philadelphia, Pa.) got the start for the Scots on senior day and performed well in his third start of the season. The right-hander held the Ephs to one hit and one run over the first five innings, allowing the Scots to take a big lead late into the game.
After a three-up, three-down top of the first, Gordon's offense continued where it left off on Wednesday evening.
Jared Kefalas (Wenham, Mass.) singled to lead off the inning and
Wes Arning (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), who got the start in left field, walked to put two runners on.
Travis Pullen (Las Vegas, Nev.) singled to shallow center field, but the Williams' centerfielder made a great jump on the ball to prevent a run from scoring temporarily.
Alex Smith (Wethersfield, Conn.) singled in the next at-bat to bring in Kefalas before Murphy finally got his first out of the inning, a shallow fly ball by
Mark Fitzgerald (Camarillo, Calif.).
Alonzo Martinez (El Paso, Texas) hit a sharp grounder to third that caromed off the third baseman's glove and scurried away, allowing all runners to be safe.
Jesse Amaya (South Gate, Calif.) continued the run with a single through the left side of the infield to plate Pullen from third and keep the bases juiced. A passed ball on a breaking ball took a bad bounce of the backstop to score Smith, but the Ephs' catcher tried to throw Gordon's shortstop out at home and threw it away. Martinez came all the way around from second to score and gave Gordon a 5-0 lead.
Senior
Eddie Klukojc (Wilton, Conn.) delivered the final run-scoring play of the inning when he beat out a potential double-play ball, allowing Amaya to score for a 6-0 advantage.
Williams took one back from Gordon in the top of the third when Kirby Neuner (Hackettstown, N.J.) took a one-out walk. Neuner was moved to second on a groundout and eventually scored on a single by Phil McGovern (Nutley, N.J.).
The Fighting Scots threatened to put more runs on the board in the fourth inning with bases loaded and only one out. Murphy was able to get the final two batters out and find his way out of the jam.
The Ephs struck again in the sixth with two more runs on three hits. Jack Roberts (Vineyard Haven, Mass.) singled with one out and advanced to third when Adam Dulsky yanked a ball down the right-field line for a double. Luke Pierce (Yarmouth, Maine) drove Roberts home and then a double steal got Dulsky to cross the plate for the Ephs' third run of the ballgame.
Williams scored once more in the seventh and threatened with two runners in the ninth, but could not pull off the rally.
Smith led the Scots with a 3-3 afternoon and one RBI. Kefalas and Klukojc each put together multi-hit games as well. Strapp finished seven innings with seven hits and four runs allowed, while striking out two.
Connor Birch (Bellingham, Mass.) came in for the two-inning save in the eighth.
Williams returns to Western Massachusetts for a two-game series with NESCAC foe Bates on Sunday. Gordon keeps up its busy schedule with a doubleheader at Nichols tomorrow afternoon.
