SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - - Fifteen hits only led to six runs for the Wilmington University baseball team as the Wildcats dropped a nonconference matchup at Shippensburg, 8-6, outhitting the Raiders, 15-9, but falling short on the road at Fairchild Field.
Wilmington (26-15 overall) finished its NCAA Division II nonconference season on Wednesday and will play three more Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference games, as well as a matchup with instate rival University of Delaware to close out its season. Shippensburg (26-19) scored two in the seventh and once more in the eighth to close out the contest.
The Wildcats got on the board quickly, opening the game by getting its first four batters on base, scoring two runs in the top of the first. BJ Janney led off the game with a double to left field while Joe Harbach, Mike Godwin and Jordan Oncay all followed with singles. Godwin and Oncay's hits produced the runs in the inning.
Shippensburg got one back off a two-out solo home run in the bottom of the first inning, but took the lead in the bottom of the second and never looked back. With two men on and one out, Jimmy Miller doubled to left field, scoring two runners for the 3-2 lead. The Raiders added two more runs in the next at-bat, as Ben Miller homered to left with Miller on second for the 5-2 lead.
Wilmington tried to crawl back into the game with a single run in the fourth and single runs in each of the last three innings, but every time the Wildcats got on the board, the Raiders responded in the home half of the inning.
Adam Soley doubled home Kyle Hitchens in the top of the fourth to cut the deficit to 5-3 in the middle of contest. Soley then did all the damage himself in the top of the seventh, hitting his first home run of the game in the top of the seventh. His first solo shot landed beyond the fence in left field to get the team back within a run.
But Shippensburg retaliated with two runs of its own in the home half of the seventh to widen the margin back out to three. Again the Wildcats tried to mount the comeback, as Godwin led off the eighth inning with another solo jack to left field. He welcomed new reliever Tom Bush to the action by driving his second home run of the season to make it 7-5.
Again the Raiders stretched the lead back to three, keeping the Wildcats an arm's reach away, as they scored a run off reliever Tyler Fries in the bottom of the eighth.
The Wildcats looked to start a rally in the top of the ninth, trailing by three runs. Soley blasted his second home run of the game, this time off Kory Kibler to lead off the ninth. But that would be all the Wildcats could muster off the closer, as Kibler recorded his seventh save of the year by getting Godwin to ground out to third with Harbach on first base.
Soley finished 3-for-4 with three RBI's and two runs scored on the afternoon, while Harbach and Godwin also tallied three hits apiece for the visitors. Janney finished 2-for-5 with a run scored from the leadoff position. Oncay, Matt Lope, Hitchens and Brandon Payne accounted for the remaining four hits for Wilmington.
Ryan Lally was saddled with the loss, dropping to 2-2 on the year after throwing three innings. He gave up five runs (four earned) on five hits, striking out two batters. Justin DeLong tossed four innings in relief, striking out three batters but giving up two runs on three hits. Fries tossed a third of the eight before handing it over to Nick Marics who closed out the final two outs of the inning.
In all, there were six home runs in the contest as Shippensburg amassed three bombs as well, all by three different players. Soley picked up his third and fourth homers of the season. Janney, Lopes and Soley added doubles for the Wildcats to make it six extra-base hits on the day.
Wilmington is off until Sunday, when they play their final doubleheader of the regular season, squaring off against Caldwell in New Jersey. The first pitch of game one is scheduled for 12 noon.