BOCA RATON, Fla. - - Sophomore Ray Gambone pitched his way to his first collegiate victory in leading Wilmington University to doubleheader split on Friday, defeating UMass-Lowell, 7-2, before falling to Lynn, 11-0, at Lynn's Baseball Complex on the team's second to last day on Spring Break.
Gambone threw seven dominate innings in the day's first game, striking out eight batters while only allowing one run on six hits. Gambone improved to 1-1 on the season, earning his first collegiate victory after finishing the 2012 season with a 0-3 record.
The Wildcats (8-6) took control in the fifth inning, scoring four runs on four hits, but also received some help from the Riverhawks defense. Jon Castro started the inning with a single back up the middle before Brendan Fallers put the first two batters on by getting hit with the first pitch. Jordan Johnson laid down his second sacrifice bunt of the game to move the runners into scoring position.
Frank Samluk regained the lead for the Wildcats, singling in the first run of the game, scoring Castro from third base. After Josh Hampton was walked to load the bases, the flood gates opened on one play. Matt Lopes sent a fly ball into center field, easily scoring Fallers on the sacrifice fly. As Samluk took third on the play, Hampton attempted to advance to second, but the throw was cut off in the infield by the first baseman. As the first baseman tried to get Hampton at second base, the ball sailed into left center field, allowing Samluk to trot home and Hampton beat the throw home to make it a three run play.
After UMass-Lowell (4-3) got a run back in the eighth inning off reliever Jarrett Shaffer, the Wildcats struck again to keep the Riverhawks at bay. Sam Goines started the inning with a single into center. With runners on first and second, Johnson laced a double into right center, scoring both Goines and Fallers to move the lead out to 7-2.
Nick Marics came on and threw a perfect inning, closing the door on the Wildcats' third straight victory.
Samluk was the lone Wildcat to record multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with two RBI's and scoring a run. Castro and Fallers scored two runs each while Johnson added a pair of RBI's. Seven other Wildcats finished with one hit each, totaling the team's nine hits in the win.
Game two didn't go as easily for the Wildcats, as the offense couldn't solve starting pitcher Joe Perrotta who tossed a complete game shutout, allowing only six hits for the win.
Trailing 4-0 early, the Wildcats' best chance to get back into the ball game came in the fourth inning as they loaded the bases with no outs. Samluk and Hampton started the inning with back-to-back singles before Julius Ryland reached on an error, sacrificing the runners over. But Perrotta induced an infield flyout, recorded a strikeout and got out of the jam with a fly ball to right field to keep the Wildcats off the board.
Hampton paced the offense with two hits, extending his hitting streak to 12 straight games. He also hit his team leading seventh double of the year while starting in all 14 games at third base this season. He finished 2-for-4 against Lynn. Johnson, Samluk, Kyle Lindstrom and JR Gregory rounded out the other four hits for the Wildcats in the contest.
In a long stretch of games dating back to a four game set against Franklin Pierce to start the month of March, the Wildcats will play their 12th and 13th games in a nine day stretch, ending their Spring Break tomorrow afternoon. The Wildcats will play East Region opponent Molloy on Saturday in a doubleheader, with the first game starting at 3 p.m.
