Baseball looks to control its own destiny

By Dan Brodhead

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Ben Johnstone, BR '00, looks to power the Bulldog offense.

The baseball team had only one thing on its mind when it traveled to Iona College in New Rochelle, NY, on Wed., Apr. 15: ending the squad's three-game skid. Through the first five innings, things went as planned. Pitchers John Levy, BR '00, and Peter Bogue, SM '98, combined for four scoreless innings, each allowing only one hit. In the top of the fourth, Tony Coyne, BK '00, put Yale on the board, sending one of Iona starting pitcher Steve Fugarino's pitches out of J.B. Buono Field for his seventh homer of the year. In the bottom of the sixth inning, however, the Gaels exploded, unleashing an offensive barrage that resulted in six runs. Yale scored two more in the eighth in a last-gasp rally, but the damage had been done. Iona sealed the victory with another run in the bottom of the eighth. With the 7-3 loss, Yale fell to 12-15 on the season.

The non-league game was not without its bright spots, however. Yale outhit the Gaels 9-8, with standout performances from Ben Johnstone, BR '00, and Coyne. Johnstone boosted his team-leading batting average to .366 with a 3-for-3 performance while Coyne, whose long ball put the Bulldogs out in front early, was 2-for-4 on the day. Coyne received a spot on the Ivy League weekly Honor Roll for his phenomenal 8-for-15 (.533) batting last week. During this stretch, he hit four doubles in a single game in Yale's 16-10 win over Cornell on Fri., Apr. 10. Coyne leads the Yale squad in three significant offensive categories: home runs (seven), slugging percentage (.663), and runs scored (22). Chad Miller, BR '99, who leads the Elis in RBIs (21) also went 2-for-4 on the afternoon.

Despite putting men on base, Yale did not produce the runs it needed against Iona. "We had the offense," Johnstone said. "We just didn't string together the hits in such a way as to produce runs." Indeed offensive spurts like the one the Gaels put forth in the sixth were exactly what the Bulldogs lacked.

But despite the non-conference loss, Yale is still a contender in the Ivy League. In fact, the Blue are 4-4 in league play and are only three games out of first place. According to Johnstone, the key to breaking out of the current slump is an increase in intensity. "I have faith in our team," he said. "I know we are solid, we just need to put it all together. Everybody on the team knows we have to step it up."

There is no better time for the Bulldogs to turn up the intensity than when they face Harvard this weekend. The Crimson team, currently atop the Red Rolfe Division with an 18-7 overall record, comes to town for two doubleheaders. As intra-divisional play begins on Sat., Apr. 18, the Bulldogs will have a chance to knock off the league front-runner.

Harvard, bolstered by the recent return of star Brian Ralph, comes into town on a roll. "Harvard is our rival and their team is in first place, but that's no reason for us to approach this weekend differently than any other," Johnstone said. "The next game is always the most important, no matter who it is you're playing. That's the way we've approached our games all season long."

This weekend also gives the Bulldogs the chance to make up ground in a hurry. "This is the pivotal weekend of the Ivy League season," Chad Miller, BR '99, said. "With Harvard in first place, we have an added incentive; we have to seize the opportunity. We have to come fired up, motivated, and ready to go--that's the bottom line."

Their work is cut out for them. "I'm very optimistic," Johnstone said. "This weekend we simply need to play at the level we are capable of and we'll do well." Miller echoes Johnstone's optimism: "This weekend our future is in our hands. Harvard's good, but we'll be ready."

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