After a strong start to the season. the Dickinson Red Devil baseball team hit a snag with four straight losses to start conference play, dropping games to Johns Hopkins on March 27 and March 30, before being swept in a doubleheader by Haverford on March 31. Dickinson defeated Keuka College, 22-10, on Wed., March 28. The team won its first conference game on Tues., April 3 with an 8-2 victory over Gettysburg.

The Devils fell to the Blue Jays, 3-2, on Tuesday, March 27. Sean White ’12 was the star in a losing effort. He pitched eight innings, allowing three runs on six hits and striking out two batters. Unfortunately for White, the one mistake he made the entire game came in the first inning, where an early homerun for the Blue Jays put the Devils in a three-run hole from the beginning. They managed to get two runs back in the sixth inning, as Matt Tuneski ’12 brought in two runs with a perfectly placed ball in center field, which was ruled an E8 as it fell between the centerfielder and shortstop. That would be all the Red Devils’ offense could muster, however, falling by a single run. Andrew Sterling ‘12, defending conference hitter of the week, had four of the Red Devils’ six hits.

Against Keuka, Matt Vidal ‘12 started and cruised through seven shutout innings. Tuneski had three hits to lead an offense that finished with 18. The game was a great opportunity for reserve players to get a shot as 22 different Red Devils saw action.

The Devils had a shot at revenge against Hopkins on Friday, March 30, but fell short again, losing 6-5. Ryan Kramer ’14 allowed four earned runs on five hits, pitching into the seventh inning. Hopkins would be the team to strike first, getting a 1-0 lead in the second inning and then extending their lead 3-0 on a homerun in the sixth inning.

Dickinson rallied in the bottom of the sixth. Things started when Sterling smacking a line drive down the right field line for a double. Mitch Helmandollar ’15 singled up the middle to drive in Sterling. After Tyler Rosa ’12 singled, Garrett Horan ’12 reached on a bunt to load the bases for Jordan Kaufman ’12. Kaufman singled in a run, as Tuneski drew a bases loaded walk to bring in another. Joe Tursi ’14 would give the Red Devils the lead with a sacrifice fly. Hopkins would strike back with two runs of their own in the seventh inning to re-take the lead. Pinch-hitter Joe Martinez ’15 smashed a line drive down the left field line for an RBI double in the eighth to draw even. The Blue Jays pushed across a sixth run in the ninth inning on a sac fly. Haverford swept Dickinson on Saturday, March 31. In game one of the twin bill, the Red Devils were beaten 12-4 Harley Moore ’15, allowed four earned runs off eight hits in five innings, but Dickinson’s defense sputtered and made five errors behind him. Haverford led 9-2 after 5. Charlie Gaines ’15 and Sterling came on in relief, throwing two and one innings, respectively.

A gutsy pitching performance by White nearly won it, but the Red Devils fell 7-6 in 11 innings. White, the only starter in the conference going on three day’s rest, pitched nine innings, giving up six runs on ten hits. A furious ninth inning rally by the Red Devils, started by another Martinez pinch-hit double, sent the game to extra frames. A Steve Haynes ’15 sacrifice fly and a Sterling RBI single knotted the game at six . Dickinson reliever Zee Crawford ‘15 battled into and out of trouble in the tenth and almost did it again in the eleventh. The Fords, however, would prevail once again, as yet another infield single for the small-ball team sent the visiting Red Devils home with their fourth consecutive conference loss.

Dickinson managed to right the ship on Tuesday, April 3 with a convincing 8-2 victory over visiting Gettysburg. Andrew Mauro ’13, coming on in relief to begin the fourth, tossed six innings of shutout baseball. “He slugged waters and threw absolute hammers,” said Peter De Santis ‘15, praising the veteran Mauro’s performance. . Down 2-0, Horan got things started with a double in the fourth. Kaufman, the shortstop, knocked in Horan with a single and second-baseman Haynes hit a homerun to give Dickinson the lead for good. They tacked on two more in the sixth and three more in the eigth, highlighted by a Mike Adams ‘15 homerun that went about 400 feet. Kaufman had two RBI and is hitting .463 with 24 RBI on the season.

Mauro improves to team best 4-1 with a 2.13 ERA. “It was an all around team effort,” said Mauro, trying to deflect the attention off himself. “Defense played solid behind me all day with three double plays and we got timely hitting in key spots during the game. I was just happy that we won and hope that it’s the start of a long streak.” The Red Devils return to action on Thursday, April 5 when they travel to Gettysburg for another match up with the Bullets. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.