Bulldogs pick up First Win of Season

West Haven - The Yale bats broke out in a big way on Saturday. 

The Bulldogs scored a season-high 10 runs in a 10-5 victory over Holy Cross at Historic Yale Field. Yale fell 8-1 the second game of the doubleheader.

"Our offense came alive," Yale head coach John Stuper said. "We had guys up and down our lineup take great at-bats."

Benny Wanger highlighted the Bulldogs first win of 2016, going 3-for-3 with two RBIs. Griffen Dey chipped in finishing 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Tim DeGraw added two RBIs and Richard Slenker had two doubles, both down the left field line.

Griffin Dey sparked the offensive outburst with an RBI single in the first. Dey and Slenker later scored on an error to give the Bulldogs 3-1 advantage. Yale (1-10-1) continued to build on its lead. Dey and DeGraw both had two-run singles in a five-run fifth. That gave Yale a 9-1 lead.

Freshman righthander Scott Politz took care of the rest.

Politz scattered seven hits over eight innings to pick up his first career win. He also got out of a bases loaded jam in the second.

"Scott did a great job," Stuper said. "I couldn't ask for anything more. He pitched well and we played great defense behind him."

In the second game, Yale had an opportunity to cut into a 3-0 Holy Cross lead in the sixth. But the Bulldogs couldn't push any runs across.

Tim DeGraw broke up the Crusaders shutout in the ninth with an RBI single, scoring Wanger. Tom O'Neill and DeGraw each had two hits in the second game of the doubleheader.

"It was nice to get our first win today," Stuper said. "I was proud of our performance in the first game."

It's worth noting, Holy Cross is the former college of Yale associate head coach Tucker Frawley. 

The Bulldogs will host the Crusaders again on Sunday in one nine-inning game beginning at 1 p.m.

Chris Hunn, Yale Sports Publicity