FT. MYERS, FL – The Wilmington College baseball team match their 2014 win total by sweeping a doubleheader from Emerson Monday in non-conference action. The Fightin' Quakers tallied 16 runs on 18 hits in picking up two victories.
GAME ONE: WILMINGTON 9, EMERSON 8
Junior Clay Cleaver (Pleasant Plain, OH/Little Miami) hit for the cycle and Wilmington held off a furious late Lion rally to post the 9-8 win. Cleaver finished 4-for-4 with six RBI, including what proved to be a game-winning three-run home run in the sixth inning.
"Prior to his homerun, I walked down and told him we needed a homerun and he delivered," said head coach Dan Cleaver. "In my 20-plus years of coaching, he was as locked in as any player I have seen. Even his foul balls were hit hard."
Cleaver's big fly came immediately on the heels of Emerson pulling to within two runs with a three-run fifth. Freshman Daniel Hayes (Beavercreek, OH/Beavercreek) started the inning with a single and junior Corey Walker (Hillsboro, OH/Hillsboro) reached on a fielder's choice ahead of Cleaver's big fly.
Leading up the capper of the cycle, Cleaver had a double in the first inning, a triple in the second and a single in the fourth.
Junior Derek Peters (Fayetteville, OH/Fayetteville) allowed one run on five hits in 2 1/3 innings, but it was junior Billy Foster (Xenia, OH/Xenia) that earned the win with 2 1/3 innings of relief. Foster allowed three runs on six hits, but he got Wilmington out of jam in the third inning. After a smooth fourth, Foster ran into a little trouble in the fifth and senior Roenick Whitney (Goshen, OH/Goshen) was called on to end the Lions' aforementioned three-run rally.
GAME TWO: WILMINGTON 7, EMERSON 6
Wilmington raced out to a 6-0 lead with much of the damage coming courtesy of Walker's second-inning grand slam. Walker finished 1-for-4 with four RBI and a run scored.
Cleaver (1-0) earned the victory with 5 2/3 innings of work, allowing five runs (four earned) on 11 hits. Sophomore Sam Cranor (Cincinnati, OH/LaSalle), a day after getting his first win of the season, picked up his first career save.
Junior Tyler Schrock (Waynesville, OH/Waynesvile) went 2-for-2 with two runs scored, while freshman Tyler McDaniel was 1-for-2 with an RBI and run scored. McDaniel's biggest contribution came in the fifth inning with a two-strike sacrifice bunt that moved the winning run to third base for Hayes to cash in.
Wilmington (3-2) plays MacMurray in a nine-inning game noon Tuesday.
