March 9, 2008
DAVIDSON, N.C.--Mother Nature delayed the start of the first game of the Yale baseball team's spring trip by a couple of hours, so the Bulldogs were ready to hit once they finally took the field. Yale (2-2) scored two runs in the top of the first and built a 7-0 lead before cruising to a 7-2 victory over Appalachian State (5-6) at Davidson's Wilson Field on Saturday night. The teams were originally scheduled to play a doubleheader, but rain pushed the start of the previous game between Davidson and Quinnipiac back, so the Bulldogs and Mountaineers only played one. The second game will be played Sunday morning at 11 a.m.
Josh Cox doubled leading off the game and came around on Ryan Lavarnway's RBI single. After Lavarnway was caught stealing, Jake Doyle belted a home run to center field to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead.
Yale increased its lead to 6-0 with four runs in the top of the third. Once again it was Cox who got the rally started with a one-out double. He moved to third on Stefan Schropp's single, then scored on an RBI single by Doyle. The next batter was P.J. Gorynski, whose infield single knocked in Schropp. Gorynski was retired for the second out when Trygg Larsson-Danforth grounded into an RBI fielder's choice, and Andrew Moore capped the inning with an RBI single that drove in Doyle.
That was more than Alex Christ (1-0) needed. Making his first start since the 2005 season, Christ allowed just four hits and two runs while striking out six and walking none in five innings. He only ran into trouble once, in the bottom of the sixth inning after his team had a 7-0 lead.
After Yale added a seventh run in the top half of the inning, Appalachian State got its first two batters on when Jason Altenhof singled and Jason Rook was hit by a pitch. John Henry Davis was then summoned from the Yale bullpen to relieve Christ. Davis surrendered a single to David Rubinstein that loaded the bases before Chris Patterson struck out. Altenhof scored when Davis walked Andrew Franco, and the Mountaineers got a second run on Isaac Harrow's groundout.
Cox, Doyle and Moore each had two hits for the Bulldogs, while Cox and Doyle each scored twice. Davis, Vinny Lally, Chris Walsh and Schropp combined to give up just two hits in four innings of scoreless relief.
Altenhof and Rubinstein each had two of Appalachian State's six hits. Josh Dowdy (0-3) got the start for the Mountaineers, giving up 10 hits and seven runs while striking out three and walking one in six innings. Calvin Teague pitched the last three innings and yielded just one hit while striking out four.
Yale will now play two games against two different teams on Sunday. The second game of the Appalachian State series is now at 11 a.m., followed by the Bulldogs' regularly scheduled contest against Davidson at 4 p.m.
Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity