WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Wilmington College baseball team split an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC)-opening twinbill with No. 9 Baldwin Wallace University on Tuesday, winning game one 6-2 and losing game two 14-1.
In game one, perhaps the most complete of the Tony Vittorio era, the Fightin' Quakers opened the scoring in the bottom of the fourth on consecutive doubles from Dominic Depa (down the left field line) and Aaron Burns (to left center). Drew Wilson answered with a two-run home run to left field in the top of the fifth, but Caleb Scott got both of those runs back with a two-RBI hit to center field. The Yellow Jackets got out of the inning without allowing further damage, however, as Burns grounded out with the bases loaded.
Aaron Boster, whoss quality start would earn a victory, stranded a runner at second base in the top of the sixth. The Quakers' offense rewarded him with three extra runs of support in the bottom half on RBI-singles from Evan Kelsey and Jesse Reliford and a sacrifice fly from Scott. Leading 6-2, Luke Chappie relieved Boster in the eighth and retired six straight Yellow Jackets to win the OAC opener.
Boster, who threw 72 strikes on 122 pitches, earned his third win of the season, striking out seven with four walks and allowed just three hits to a team that had no less than eight in any game this season. Dawson Gabe took the loss, allowing three earned runs on eight hits with three walks in five innings.
The top two of Wilmington's lineup accounted for five of the team's dozen hits as Tyler Shaneyfelt finished 3-for-5 with a run scored and a stolen base while Kelsey went 2-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base. Scott had one hit and three RBIs. For Baldwin Wallace, Vincent Capolupo went 2-for-3 from the lead-off spot while Drew Wilson had the two-run home run.
In game two, the Yellow Jackets scored a run, coincidentally on a double play, in the first, but chased Quaker starter David Ernst with a four-run third that included a three-run home run from cleanup hitter Sean Klenich to left field. BW would go on to plate a single run in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to build an 8-0 advantage. Wilmington plated its only run in the eighth on a fielder's choice from Kelsey that scored Shaneyfelt, but the visitors answered with a six-run inning in the ninth to seal the series split.
Aidan Bennett won seven innings and allowed five hits with eight strikeouts to improve to 2-0 for BW while Ernst allowed six earned runs on eight hits in 3.1 innings to dip to 1-2 on the season. GlenAllen Anderson was the most effective of the WC relievers in game two, allowing a single earned run on four hits in four innings. Nik Baldis finished the game by pitching the final two innings for the Yellow Jackets.
BW pounded 16 hits in game two with 10 of them coming from the top four in the order. Capolupo went 4-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored in the lead-off spot while Wilson and Kolehich each had multi-hit games and drove in a combined six runs. For the Quakers, Shaneyfelt and Jared Lammert had two hits each.
Wilmington (11-9, 1-1 OAC) heads to John Carroll University for a twinbill on Saturday.
