WC baseball takes 3 of 4 over weekend

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WILMINGTON – The Wilmington College baseball team split a doubleheader with the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford (Pitt.-Bradford) Sunday, losing game one 12-0 and winning game two 5-2 at Tewksbury-Delaney Field.

In game one, the Fightin’ Quakers could not solve Ryan Boyer as the Panthers’ starter hurled a complete-game shutout, yielding four hits and striking out five. Boyer was aided by his defense as Pitt.-Bradford turned two 1-6-3 double plays in the first three innings.

Lance Fleischman dropped to 1-1 on the season with the loss, allowing five earned runs in 4.1 innings with five strikeouts. Adam Doerger, Tyler McDaniel and Jesse Walker also surrendered runs in relief.

Nick Silvis, Wilmington’s lead-off hitter, finished 2-for-3.

In game two, Pitt.-Bradford scored a run on two hits and an error in the top of the first, but Wilmington answered as Josh Chua launched a two-run home run over the left field fence in the bottom of the inning.

Neither team scored for the next four innings until a Panther error and an RBI single from Jake Hyatt gave the Quakers a 3-1 lead after six complete.

After a scoreless seventh, Pitt.-Bradford loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the eighth, but a 6-4-3 double play and a run-saving defensive play from Silvis at third base got the Quakers out of the inning.

Wilmington stretched its lead back to three runs using an RBI single from Bley and an RBI double from Luke Kleindl in the bottom of the eighth. Alec Robinette slammed the door in the top of the ninth, earning his first save of the season.

Jarett Trautman, the Quakers’ starting pitcher, allowed just one earned run in seven innings while striking out eight to earn the win. Robinette picked up the two-inning save.

“If you pitch well, you give your team a chance to win,” WC head coach Dan Cleaver said. “That was the difference from game one to game two. [Jarett] Trautman and [Alec] Robinette were outstanding once again.”

Chua and Kleindl both had two hits for WC.

Wilmington (8-7) opens Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play at Muskingum University this Saturday.

Prior to the Pitt-Bradford doubleheader, Wilmington swept Bluffton on March 17, winning two low-scoring games 1-0 and 3-1 against the Beavers.

In game one, the Fightin’ Quakers had a runner in scoring position in six of the first seven innings, but failed to deliver an run scoring hit. Bluffton also had chances to score, getting a runner 90 feet from home three times, but similar to Wilmington, couldn’t drive in a run.

Wilmington finally broke through in the ninth inning as Bley hit a one-out single and was bunted to second base by Robinette. Catcher Kasey Bottorff singled Bley home with outs to score the game’s only run.

Robinette improved to 3-0 with the win in relief as he pitched 2.2 innings without surrendering a hit. Starter Joey Hollback also was effective, scattering six hits and striking out seven in 6.1 innings.

Bley and Bottorff combined for four of the Quakers’ five hits as a team. Daniel Hayes added one hit.

Game two was much the same as neither team scored in the first three innings. Luke Kleindl broke through in the fourth inning with an RBI-single that scored Jake Hyatt, but Bluffton battled back to tie the game on a double, single and sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth.

With the game tied after five complete innings, Kleindl came through once again in the sixth with a two-run double scoring Chua and Joe Legin. Jared Ferenchak completed his second complete-game victory by shutting down the Beavers in the last two innings.

Ferenchak allowed just four hits and one earned run over seven innings. His counterpart, Colby Clifton, also went the distance and allowed five hits and three earned runs.

Kleindl finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs to account for two of Wilmington’s five hits. Jacoby Latkofsky recorded two hits for the Beavers.

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Josh Chua (10) was named the Ohio Athletic Conference hitter of the week.
http://www.wnewsj.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2018/03/web1_WC_bb_joshchuaPR.jpgJosh Chua (10) was named the Ohio Athletic Conference hitter of the week. Courtesy Photo | Randy Sarvis, Wilmington College

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