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Press Release Written by Sports Information Graduate Intern MaryKate Rumbaugh
NEW CASTLE, Del. – The Wilmington University baseball team split their final regular season doubleheader with Felician, winning the first game, 15-4, before losing the second, 18-12 in five innings at Wilson Field on Friday afternoon.
With his sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth inning in game two against the Golden Falcons, senior Kendall Small tied the program record for RBI in a career with 143 previously set by Mike Godwin from 2009-12.
Game One:
A run every inning, except in the bottom of the eighth, would be enough for the Wildcats (23-15, 12-10 CACC) as they scored 15 runs on 17 hits through nine innings.
Wilmington would take an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, when Brooks Ryan hit a bullet three-run home run out to left field, scoring Dakota Graham and Eddie Nevins. Felician (22-18, 16-6 CACC) would come within one in the top of the second, with their own two-run home run, but that would be as close as the Golden Falcons would come to WilmU's lead.
In the third and fourth innings, Wilmington built their lead with three runs in each inning. Frank Nigro would go yard for his second homerun of the season, before Dakota Graham hit a two-run single to left field to bring the lead to 7-2. In the top of the fourth, Brooks Ryan would double to right field to bring the first of three runs through. Max Carney and Brett Nowell would single to bring in two more to make it a 10-3 lead going into the top of the fifth.
Graham would get his third hit of the game with a two-run home run out to left field to give the Wildcats a 14-3 lead in the bottom of the sixth. He would go 3-for-3 in the contest with three walks, three runs and four RBI.
Brooks Ryan went 3-for-5 with two runs and five RBI, as Max Carney and Brett Nowell both went 2-for-4 with one RBI. Frank Nigro (two RBI) and Eddie Nevins went 2-for-3.
Sean Deely would get the win on the mound and improve to 5-2 on the year, going 6.0 IP, while allowing six hits, three earned runs, five walks, with seven strikeouts.
Game Two:
Down 6-0 in just the first inning, the Wildcats came back in the third inning to tie the ballgame at 10-10 on a three-run home run from Kendall Small, but a five-run fourth inning for Felician would give them the lead once more, before the game ended after the bottom of the fifth due to darkness.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the first, Eddie Nevins doubled down the left field line, scoring two, before Luke Johnson and Max Carney hit back-to-back singles to bring the Golden Falcons lead to just two, making it 6-4. The Wildcats would bring the game to within one in the next inning, but Felician would make it a 10-6 ballgame in the top of the third.
With two outs in the bottom half of the inning, Dakota Graham got the Wildcats started with a walk, before Quintin Ivy struck out, but reached first on a wild pitch and scoring Brett Nowell in the process. Kendall Small would be the next batter, working the count, before hitting a shot out to right field for the three-run bomb to tie the game at 10 a piece.
The tie would quickly disappear though, as Felician took the lead back in the top of the fourth with five runs, before adding three more in the top of the fifth, to make it an 18-11 game.
Luke Johnson and Max Carney both went 2-for-4 with one RBI, as Kendall Small went 1-for-3 with two runs and four RBI. Dakota Graham would reach base on every at bat throughout both games, as he was walked three times in game two. Frank Nigro had one hit for the Wildcats.
Justin Mears would get the loss, falling to 0-4 on the season, allowing four hits and five runs. Graham had two strikeouts through 1.0 IP.
Next Up:
Wilmington is back to Wilson Field tomorrow afternoon as they take on Concordia. Game one of the doubleheader is set for 12:00 p.m.
