ADA, Ohio – The Wilmington College baseball team concluded its 2018 on a high note as the Fightin' Quakers swept Ohio Northern University (ONU) in an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) doubleheader, winning game one 8-6 and game two 11-3.
The wins marks the first OAC series sweep for Wilmington since defeating Otterbein University in two games during the 2012 season.
"We played about as good as we could in all facets today," Head Coach Dan Cleaver said. "We have been close to finishing games this year, and to close our season beating a team as good as Ohio Northern is a great feeling."
The Polar Bears took a 4-1 lead after three innings in game one, but the Quakers tied the game in the fifth on RBI-singles from Joshua Chua and Jake Hyatt. ONU took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the frame, but the lead didn't last long as a Kasey Bottorff double tied the game once again in the top of the sixth. An error and a passed ball later had Wilmington ahead 7-5.
The hosts got back within a single run in the bottom of the sixth, but a Chua double in the eighth added an insurance run in the eighth as Wilmington hung on to win 8-6.
Joey Hollback earned his first victory of the season allowing six earned runs in 5.2 innings pitched. Alec Robinette earned his second save of the season surrendering just one hit with two strikeouts in 3.1 innings of work. Blake Lester took the loss for ONU allowing one earned run while recording just a single out.
Wilmington had 13 hits as a team in game one including multi-hit games from Chua, Bottorff, Antonio Miller and Nick Silvis. Kyle Schlade was the lone Polar Bear to tally two hits.
In game two, the Quakers tagged ONU starter Josh Mohr for a single run in the second and fourth inning on a double from Gage Bley and a home run from Hyatt. A two-RBI single from Luke Kleindl in the fifth put Wilmington on top 4-0 in the top of the fifth, but two sacrifice flies from the Polar Bears made it 4-2 after five.
Wilmington's offense blew the game wide open in the sixth inning with seven runs on five hits including a grand slam from Hyatt, his second home run of the game.
Jared Ferenchak improved to 3-5 with the victory scattering eight hits and striking out two. Lance Fleischman earned the three-inning save with three strikeouts. Josh Mohr took the loss allowing six earned runs on 10 hits in 5.1 innings pitched for ONU.
Individually, Hyatt finished 2-for-5 with two home runs and give RBIs. Kleindl, Bley and Silvis also had two hits for the Quakers. Jordan Bostater finished 4-for-4 with two runs scored for ONU.
Wilmington concludes its 2018 season with an 11-26 overall record including a 3-15 mark in OAC play. The 11 victories mark the first time since 2008 that the Quakers have tallied double-digit wins in a season.