NEW CASTLE, Del. - - The Wilmington University softball team concluded the 2018 regular season with a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference sweep of Concordia, 12-1 (5 inn.) and 6-0, setting a new program record for conference wins in a season by going 21-5.
The Wildcats (35-15, 21-5 CACC) finished second in the CACC standings and earn the No. 2 seed in the upcoming CACC Tournament starting Friday. They square off against No. 7 Holy Family (15-27, 14-12 CACC) in the first game, hosted by Georgian Court University in Lakewood, N.J.
Game One:
The Wildcats came out of the gates firing putting four runs on the board in the bottom of the first. After a run in the bottom of the second, the Wildcats put the game away with a seven-run fourth inning.
Lexi Baughman started the scoring in the bottom of the first with an RBI single before Keara McCarthy plated two more with a two-run single. Now with two-outs and the bases loaded, Jazmeen Llamas walked to force in the fourth run of the inning.
With runners on the corners and two outs in the second, Rosa'Lynn Burton stole second and Lexi Baughman swiped home to give the home team a 5-0 lead.
A walk and three straight singles scored three more runs for the Wildcats to start the third, with RBI's coming from Jazmeen Llamas and Alyssa Velasquez. Keara McCarthy tacked on two ore runs with a two-run single, giving the Wildcats an 11-0 lead. Jordyn Virden capped the scoring with a double to the gap in left center, scoring Keara McCarthy for the 12-0 lead.
Game one starter Caitlyn Whiteside earned the complete game, five-inning win while only allowing one run and one walk on five hits.
Alyssa Velasquez went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored from the leadoff position while Keara McCarthy batted 2-for-3 with four RBI. Jordyn Virden hit a double and went 2-for-2 in the game.
Game Two:
The Wildcats got off to another fast start in the nightcap, as they put a three spot on the board in the bottom of the first. They then scored single runs in the second, third, and sixth innings to conclude the sweep.
Back-to-back Concordia errors put the first two runners on base in the bottom of the first and Annie Davila made them hurt with an RBI single to right field. Lexi Baughman gave the Wildcats a 2-0 lead with a sacrifice fly to left and Lauren Lopez capped the inning by executing a squeeze play for the 3-0 Wildcat lead.
Annie Davila collected an RBI on a groundout in the second inning and Jazmeen Llamas singled in Caitlyn Whiteside in the third to move ahead, 5-0. Alyssa Velasquez capped the Wilmington scoring with a sacrifice fly to left field in the bottom of the sixth.
Whiteside came on to start the second inning and tossed the final six innings for her second win of the day. She improved to 18-8 on the year, one win from tying the single season program record that she tied last year as well.
Five different Wildcats collected one hit each in the win, with Annie Davila leading the way with two RBI.
Up Next:
The Wildcats head into the CACC Tournament starting on Thursday morning. Continue to log into athletics.wilmu.edu all week for Wilmington softball postseason updates.
