The Colby baseball team cobbled together a solid week to push its record back in a positive direction after a tough series with Trinity College the weekend before. The Mules lost a Friday night contest to St. Joseph’s College, but turned it around on Saturday to take both games of a doubleheader against Brandeis University.

St. Joseph’s provided stiff competition for Colby in the afternoon matchup in Standish, Maine. The Monks are 21-2 overall and sit atop the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) with an undefeated 6-0 conference record. The program, which recently produced Seattle Mariners’ reliever Charlie Furbush, was among the teams receiving consideration for a spot on the top-25 list in Division III nationwide, and currently ranks number one for New England teams.

In spite of their underdog status, the Mules gave St. Joseph’s a run for their money. Left-hander Brady Hesslein ’13 got the start for Colby and did not disappoint. Hesslein turned in a solid effort; he eventually was pulled after 6.2 innings, giving up just three earned runs while striking out two Monks. Luke Geoghegan ’14 finished the game for the Mules, pitching 1.1 innings with one strikeout.

Colby got excellent production from the top of the lineup, collecting seven hits and a walk from the first four batters.

The offense was too little, too late, however, as the only St. Joseph’s pitcher to give up more than two hits was their last, Nick Whittaker. Whittaker was also the only Monk pitcher to give up an earned run, but he managed to hold on to the lead, and St. Joseph’s emerged with the win, 4-2.

A doubleheader at Brandeis in Waltham, Mass. the following day proved more successful for the Mules. The early game was by no means an easy victory, however—Colby was down 6-1 entering the fifth inning and looked primed for another defeat. Those Brandeis runs came at the hands of southpaw Nate Sugarbaker ’13 and righty Mark Collins ’12, who both gave up four runs in a combined 4.1 innings of work.

The Colby offense would not stay dormant for long though, and exploded for five runs in the fifth on the back of a game-tying grand slam by slugger Devlin O’Connell ’12.

The Judges would put a few more runs on the board each inning, taking back the lead. However, Colby busted out again in the seventh inning for six more runs, going on top after first-baseman Robb Arndt ’12 hit a line drive. Brandeis did not respond with any runs, and Colby finished with the 13-11 win.

The next game was smoother sailing for the Mules, who surged to an early 3-1 lead and never looked back. Dakota Rabbitt ’13 took the hill, twirling 4.1 innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts. Rabbitt made way for Abhi Chandel ’12 in the fifth, and Chandel took over, throwing 2.2 hitless frames to further squelch the Monks’ offense.

Luke Duncklee ’15 led the Mules with four hits, and Taro Gold ’12 added three hits and two runs batted in to power the offense to seven runs. At the end of the seven-inning game, the Mules emerged winners, 7-1. Colby hosts the University of Southern Maine on Wednesday, April 11 before heading to Tufts University to take on the Jumbos in a three-game set this weekend.