CARBONDALE, Illinois – The Wilmington College baseball team opened its 2019 season by splitting pair of games in Carbondale, Illinois, on Saturday.

 

The Fightin' Quakers fell to reigning Collegiate Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) champion North Central College 6-0 in game one and rebounded to shutout Blackburn College 3-0 in game two.

 

In the loss to the Cardinals, Wilmington got a runner to second base in the opening inning as Shane Hale singled up the middle and stole second with two outs. Unfortunately for the Quakers, a strikeout ended the threat.

 

Wilmington starter Jarrett Trautman allowed just one base runner, via a walk, in the first three innings, but a Rob Marinec two-run home run got North Central on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Cardinals weren't done offensively, however as the three runs on four hits that followed in the fifth inning gave the hosts a 5-0 lead an ended Trautman's day. Jared Ferenchak came in to end the fifth by inducing a pop out Marinec. North Central would plate an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth to stretch its lead to 6-0.

 

The Quakers got multiple runners on in the ninth inning on a walk drawn from Antonio Miller and a fielder's choice from Gage Bley with two outs, but they couldn't convert as a groundout to second base ended the game.

 

Charlie Klemm earned the win for North Central going five innings with seven strikeouts and one walk while scattering three hits. Trautman allowed five runs with five strikeouts in 4.2 innings pitched. A bright spot for the Quakers was the bullpen as Ferenchak and Matt Oney combined to now allow an earned run in 3.1 innings pitched.

 

Four Quakers – Miller, Hale, Bley and Kasey Bottorff – recorded hits for Wilmington. Jeremy Quad, Marinec and Eric Outlaw all had multi-hit games for the Cardinals.

 

In the win over the Beavers, Bley scored in the bottom of the first after a two-out triple was followed by a Blackburn throwing error. Lance Fleischman, who stranded a lead-off double in the top of the first, settled in and didn't allow Blackburn to get multiple runners on base until the seventh inning. After a Beaver single put runners on first and second, Bryant McCarty relieved Fleischman and got Tyler Jackson to flyout to end the inning.

 

Singles from Antonio Miller and Shane Hale with one out led to Miller scoring in the bottom of the seventh while singles from Bottorff and Nick Silvis set the table for an RBI-fielder's choice from Hyatt that scored the game's final run in the eighth. The Beavers would mount one final comeback attempt in the top of the ninth inning as runners got to second and third with two outs. McCarty earned the save by forcing a flyout to end the game.

 

Fleischman earned the win striking out seven and scattering seven hits and just one walk in 6.2 innings pitched. McCarty got the save pitching the final 2.1 innings allowing two hits with a strikeout. Lowell Schwartz took the loss for Blackburn allowing one earned run in three innings.

 

Hale finished 2-for-4 for Wilmington while six other Quakers tallied a single hit including extra base hits from both Bley and Hyatt. Jackson and Trevor Platt both had two hits with doubles for Blackburn in defeat.

 

Wilmington (1-1) is scheduled to face the University of Dallas at 11 a.m. (EST) or 10 a.m. (CST) tomorrow (Sunday).