PALISADES PARK, N.J. - - The Wilmington University baseball team won its fourth and fifth straight games, making the team 9-1 in its last 10 games overall, with a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference sweep of Felician, 11-3 and 3-2, on Friday afternoon at Overpeck County Park.
The Wildcats (20-5, 12-2 CACC) received good pitching once again from Ryan Sandberg in the opener and then Kyle Maxwell pitched into the sixth inning in the nightcap. Alex Krick got out of a sixth inning jam to preserve the lead and then AJ Stento pitched a scoreless seventh for his seventh save.
GAME 1:
A six-run fourth inning brought the Wildcats back from a 1-0 deficit and Ryan Sandberg took care of the rest in the opener.
Felician scored on a two-out single int eh bottom of the third, but the Wildcats answered in their next at-bat. A dropped fly ball allowed Erik Grady to tie the game, 1-1, and then Matt Warrington singled through the left side for a run-scoring hit. Shawn Edevane followed with his third homer of the season; a three-run shot for a 5-1 lead.
A walk restarted the inning for the Wildcats and then Quintin Ivy stole second with two outs. John Mead made it hurt with an RBI single to left, giving the Wildcats a 6-1 lead.
Sandberg set the Golden Falcons down in order in the fourth and fifth innings and the Wildcats extended their lead in the sixth. With runners on second and third and one out, John Mead launched his sixth homer of the season for three more runs and the 9-1 lead.
An error brought in the team's 10th run in the top of the seventh and Quintin Ivy settled the Wildcats score with an RBI single to right.
Sandberg went back out to pitch the seventh and eventually struck out the side, but a pair of unearned runs came home in the inning. Ryan Sandberg is now 6-1 on the year with 80 strikeouts in 49.1 innings pitched.
John Mead finished 3-for-5 with a homer and four RBI while Shawn Edevane went 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBI. JJ Killen also had two hits in the game.
GAME 2:
Kyle Maxwell dueled with Felician (14-17, 9-5 CACC) starter Michael Gutierrez in the nightcap. Maxwell worked around a leadoff double in the second and the offense struck in the third.
Nic Hertzfeld started the third inning with a single to left center. He stole second and was standing on third base as the ball got away from second base. Matt Warrington put the Wildcats on the board with a sacrifice fly.
Maxwell set the Golden Falcons down in order in the third, but Edwin Tavarez hit a two-out solo homer in the fourth to tie the contest, 1-1.
The Wildcats left two on the bases in the fifth, but would have an answer in the sixth. Quintin Ivy started the frame with a leadoff single. John Mead moved Ivy up to second on a sacrifice and then Shawn Haut doubled down the left field line to give the Wildcats the lead once more, 2-1. JJ Killen switched places with Haut with another double, giving the Wildcats a 3-1 lead.
Three straight singles to start the bottom of the sixth scored a run for the Golden Falcons, and finished the day for Kyle Maxwell. Alex Krick came on with the tying and go-ahead runs on base and got strikeout, a grounder to third, and a fly ball to center to leave them stranded.
AJ Stento came on for the seventh and got a pop up, a grounder, and ended the game with a strikeout for his seventh save of the year.
Maxwell improved to 3-2 on the year with the win. Quintin Ivy went 2-for-4 while Shaw Haut went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Nic Hertzfeld also went 2-for-3 with a run scored.
UP NEXT:
The Wildcats return to action on Tuesday, as they head to Philadelphia to play at the home of Phillies in Citizens Bank Park for the Bill Giles Invitational Championship. They face West Chester for the title with the first pitch scheduled for 3:00 p.m.