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Box Score 2 Degraw Finishes Day 4-for-8 With Five RBIs
Lewisburg, Pennsylvania - There was no time for grooming. Yale baseball head coach John Stuper threw many of his freshmen right into the fire this season.
And now they are starting to come into their own.
Take Tim DeGraw for example. The center fielder went 4-for-8 with five RBIs, as the Bulldogs split a doubleheader Saturday with Bucknell at Depew Field.
It was Degraw's two-run single in the sixth that lifted Yale to a 5-4 comeback victory in the first game. But the Bulldogs dropped the second game 13-9. The Bison will host the Bulldogs (3-12-1) again for a doubleheader on Sunday. The first game begins at noon.
Fellow freshman Simon Whiteman also did well at the dish. He went a combined 4-for-8 with four runs and two stolen bases. He now has six stolen bases over his last four games.
"The rookies are starting to figure it out," Stuper said. "Timmy and Simon have really been playing well as of late."
Freshman Griffin Dey also chipped in with a double and an RBI in the second game. Lefthander Kumar Nambiar took the mound in the final inning of the opener, getting a critical out and recording his first save in Yale's win.
The Bulldogs trailed 4-2 in the opener, before putting up a run in the fifth and pulling ahead on Degraw's two-run single in the sixth to secure the win. Junior Chasen Ford earned his first win of the year. He scattered seven hits and four runs (three earned) over 6 2/3 innings. He also struck out five.
After allowing seven runs in the opening inning of the second game, Yale battled back. Tim Degraw's double plated Brent Lawson and Chris Moates to highlight a four-run fifth frame. That cut the deficit to 8-7 for the Bulldogs, but that's as close as they would get.
Yale also got some strong performances out of its veterans. Junior Richard Slenker went 4-for-8 with two RBIs on the day. Lawson went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI in the second game.
"We still need our pitchers to pitch better," Stuper said. "We are walking way too many hitters. We also need to do a better job of shutting the other team down the inning after we put runs on the board."
Filed by Chris Hunn, Yale Sports Publicity.
