Wilmington Baseball Captures Opener, 5-3, but Suffers First CACC Loss of Season, 7-3, in Nightcap at Concordia

Wilmington Baseball Captures Opener, 5-3, but Suffers First CACC Loss of Season, 7-3, in Nightcap at Concordia

Copyright 2016; Wilmington University. All rights reserved. File photo of Matt Frost against Shippensburg, taken by Joseph Craig.

BRONXVILLE, N.Y. - - The nightcap of a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader gave the Wilmington University baseball team its first conference loss of the season, but the Wildcats split a doubleheader at Concordia, 5-3 and 3-7, at the Clipper Baseball Field on Monday afternoon.

Rescheduled from Saturday, the opening victory on Monday moved the Wildcats to 7-0 in the CACC but the Clippers (8-16, 5-3 CACC) gave the Wildcats their first conference loss of the 2016 season in the nightcap. The Wildcats are now 9-16 overall with the split.

Sophomore Matt Frost pitched into the seventh inning in his second conference start of the season, striking out five while allowing two runs on six hits. He also went six innings in his other CACC start against Felician. He allowed a second inning solo home run before the offense got on the board in the fifth.

An error sparked the inning for the Wildcats, as Jesse Long and Max Carney were on first and second with one out. Julian Kurcyh singled into center, chasing Long home to tie the game, 1-1.

Christian Adorno reached on a fielder's choice, allowing Carney to come home to put the Wildcats ahead, 2-1. Rocky Ferrier finished off the inning with a sacrifice fly to center, deep enough to bring in Kurcyh for the 3-1 advantage.

Frost left a runner on in the fifth before setting the Clippers down in order in the sixth. The seventh inning didn't start well for Frost, as a double and a walk put the first two batters on for Concordia. Frost exited after recording an out on a sac bunt. An infield single brought in a run off reliever Noah Latshaw before the freshman was able to get out of the jam.

The teams traded runs in the eighth before Max Carney doubled in Frank Nigro in the ninth for an added insurance run. Kyle Menchaca pitched the final 1.2 innings to record his fourth save of the season.

Kurych batted 3-for-4 in the game while Carney and Nigro added doubles. Frost is now 3-1 on the season.

The Clippers strung together 15 in the nightcap, but didn't break away from the Wildcats until the sixth inning.

Matt Alexander tied the game, 1-1, in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single to right, but the Clippers regained the lead with a two-run homer to left center in the home half of the inning. Kurych brought the Wildcats to within a single run in the fifth with an RBI double, scoring Nigro.

Three straight singles and an error led to the first run of the sixth for the Clippers before a two-out wild pitch brought in another run for the 5-2 lead. The Clippers continued to strike in the seventh, as a two-out double and a two-out single scored a pair of runs to put the home team ahead, 7-2.

Nick Macey hit a lead off double in the ninth, but the Wildcats could only scratch one run across in the inning before the Clippers closed the down. Brad Scull doubled home Macey to settle the score, 7-3.

Kurcyh and Alexander collected two hits each for the Wildcats while Kurcyh, Macey, and Scull hit doubles in the loss. John Hetterman was saddled with the loss after tossing the first 3.1 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits. He fell to 0-3 on the year.

The Wildcats step outside the CACC for a single game at Shippensburg on Tuesday afternoon. The first pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. in Shippensburg, Pa.