Hamilton College pitcher Gavin Schaefer-Hood '22 extended his scoreless streak to 13.2 innings and the Continentals edged the Wesleyan University Cardinals 4-3 at Hamilton's Loop Road Athletic Complex on a cool and wet Saturday afternoon.

The teams were scheduled to play a doubleheader, but persistent rain pushed the start time back from 1:30 to 4 p.m. and the decision was made to play a single nine-inning game. The Continentals took two out of three NESCAC West Division contests from Wesleyan back on April 10 and 11. Hamilton finishes the pandemic-shortened season with an overall record of 5-7.

Schaefer-Hood (3-2) tossed 6.2 shutout innings and is tied for second on the team's all-time list with 15 career wins. He allowed just two hits, walked three and struck out six. He also singled in his only plate appearance. He's eighth in the conference with a 2.60 earned run average, fifth in opponent batting average at .206 and tied for seventh with 27 strikeouts.

Jack Clougherty '23 retired all four batters he faced and earned his first collegiate save. Brian Lawson '21 fanned the only batter he faced in the top of the seventh in his final game with the Continentals.

Brady Slinger '22 led the offense with two singles. Slinger is fifth in the NESCAC with a .415 batting average and tied for sixth with a .489 on-base percentage. Phil Bernstein '23 and Jackson Sattinger '24 singled and walked. Bernstein is sixth in the conference with a .409 batting average and fifth with a .490 on-base percentage. Sattinger is third with a .444 batting average and second with a .583 on-base percentage.

Schaefer-Hood escaped a jam in the top of the second inning. With runners on second and third and nobody out, he struck out two batters and got another to line out to third.

Hamilton took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third. Matt McGoey '21 – playing in his last game with the Continentals – just missed a home run by a couple feet but ended up with a leadoff double high off the wall in left field. Jay Schlaefer '23 immediately followed with a blast that hit the wall in right on a hop for a triple.

The Cardinals (5-7 overall) loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth but Schaefer-Hood got a strikeout to end the inning. Hamilton filled the bases in the bottom of the inning on a single and two walks. Schlaefer cracked a hard ground ball back up the middle that the pitcher knocked down with his bare hand and threw over to first to retire the side.

The Continentals scratched another run across in the sixth. Sattinger led off with a walk, Shane Dux '24 was hit by a pitch and Jackson Johns '24 hit a sharp single to left that loaded the bases. Jacob Hahn '21 drew another walk and forced in the run with nobody out.

Hamilton made it 4-0 in the seventh. Bernstein and Ethan Harrast '23 opened the inning with walks and Slinger laid down a perfect bunt on the first base line for an infield single. The runner on third was thrown out at home trying to score on a wild pitch and then the batter struck out, but Dux smacked a single to right that plated Harrast. The right fielder threw wildly trying to get Slinger going from first to third base, and he trotted home with the fourth run.

Wesleyan countered with three runs in the top of the eighth on two sacrifice flies and an RBI single. The Cardinals went quietly in the ninth as Clougherty struck out two of the three batters. Harrast recorded the other out on an outstanding defensive play as he dove to his left and knocked down a line drive that was headed for center field. He sprang to his feet, picked up the ball, fired it to first and beat the runner by a step. The Continentals lead the NESCAC with a .971 fielding percentage.