Copyright 2016; Wilmington University. All rights reserved. File photo of Julian Kurych against Lynn.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - - The Wilmington University baseball team capped its annual trip to South Florida with a pair of losses on Saturday, falling to Adelphi, 3-0, before falling to Palm Beach Atlantic, 5-1, at Rubin Park, the home of the PBA Sailfish.
The Wildcats (2-10) couldn't solve Adelphi (7-3) starter TJ Santiago in the opener before leaving 10 men on base in the nightcap against Palm Beach Atlantic (15-9).
Adelphi jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, before adding two more in the top of the fourth. The Wildcats left single runners on base in the first and second innings, and had a stretch of 10 straight retired into the fifth innings. A Regan Hidalgo single in the fifth ended the base runner drought for the Wildcats.
Dan Hyatt laid down a one-out bunt in the bottom of the second, but was stuck at second as Santiago picked up the next two outs to get out of the jam. That would be the last base runner for the Wildcats in the contest.
Santiago went all nine innings for the complete game shutout, as he struck out seven Wildcats without allowing a walk while only giving up five hits. Chuck Delagol struck out six batters in his start, allowing three runs (two earned) on 10 hits in 5.0 innings to fall to 0-3. Brad Scull, Peter Monahan, Noah Latshaw, and Kyle Menchaca each tossed a scoreless frame to close out the game.
The Wildcats had plenty of base runners in the nightcap against Palm Beach Atlantic, but couldn't find the big hit to drive in runs. The Wildcats left a runner on in the first, third, and fourth, while leaving a pair on first and second in the fifth. Another pair of runners were left stranded in the seventh inning before the team left two more on base in the eighth, after scoring their lone run of the game.
Starter John Hetterman worked out of danger in multiple innings, including a bases loaded no-out jam in the second. He induced a 1-2-3 double for the first two outs before getting the next batter to chop one to second for the final out. He left two more on in the third after a pair of walks, but couldn't get out of another jam in the fourth.
A walk with the bases loaded forced in a run before a wild pitch brought home another Sailfish. A diving stop by Hyatt at third saved a fourth run in the inning before Zach Rumford was able to get out of the frame.
A leadoff walk came around to score for the Sailfish in the seventh, as they added their fifth run of the game on a sacrifice fly.
Christian Adorno led off the eighth with his third walk of the game before JR Gregory kept the inning alive with a pinch hit single with two outs. Kendall Small than singled through the left side, bringing in Adorno for the Wildcats' lone score.
Julian Kurych led the offense in both games, going a combined 5-for-7 on the day, including a 3-for-3 game against PBA. Hyatt went 2-for-3 against Adelphi while Small added a 2-for-4 game against PBA as the only other Wildcats with multi-hit games.
The Wildcats return home to start a six-game home stand at Wilson Field, spanning the rest of March. They start with Shippensburg on Tuesday afternoon with the first pitch scheduled for 3:00 p.m.