The Yale bats came alive and Scott Politz -- the Bulldogs' 2017 first team All-Ivy pitcher -- earned his first win of the season in an 11-4 victory over Monmouth on Friday afternoon in Richmond, Va.

Tim DeGraw, Simon Whiteman and Griffin Dey -- the first three hitters respectively in the Yale batting order -- went a combined 9 for 15 with seven runs scored and four RBI.  

Politz did the rest as he pitched eight innings, allowed two earned runs and struck out four without walking a batter. 

Trailing 2-1 entering the bottom of the sixth, Yale struck for five runs in that frame and added four more in the seventh.  

DeGraw (three hits, two runs scored) started the sixth-inning rally with a one-out single, followed by a bunt single from Whiteman (3 hits, 3 runs scored).  Next up, Dey singled up the middle to score DeGraw and tie the game at 2-2.

Two batters later, Alex Stieger worked out a walk to load the bases.  Benny Wanger then reached on an error that scored Whiteman and Dey (3 hits, 3 RBI).

Alex Boos kept the rally going with an infield hit that scored Steigler and Wanger.

The Bulldogs (3-9) added insurance runs in the next inning.  Harry Hegeman led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk and stole second.

DeGraw followed by reaching on an infield hit along the left side to advance Hegeman to third.  Whiteman promptly delivered a run-scoring hit to plate Hegeman and make it 7-2 Yale.

Later in the inning, Tom Ruddy drew a bases loaded walk, Stiegler drove in a run on a fielder's choice and Wanger added a sac fly to give Yale a commanding 10-2 lead through seven.

The Bulldogs return to action tomorrow to face host Richmond at 2 p.m.  The game can be viewed online via the A-10 Network.

Report filed by Ernie Bertothy, Yale Sports Publicity