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Baseball To Open 2020 Season In Carbondale, Illinois This Weekend

Photo by Randy Sarvis

SERIES HISTORY - BLACKBURN | NORTH CENTRAL

WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Wilmington College baseball team opens its 202 campaign with three games in Carbondale, Illinois, this weekend.

The Schedule: Wilmington will face the University of Wisconsin-Stout at Norther Central College College at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. respectively on Saturday, Feb. 22. The Fightin' Quakers will then face Blackburn College at noon on Feb. 23. All times listed in this preview and on the schedule page are Eastern Standard Time (EST).

The Teams: Wilmington, Blackburn, UW-Stout and North Central. The Fightin' Quakers finished last season with an 8-29 overall record and a 4-14 mark in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play while the Cardinals went 34-13 and came within a game of the NCAA Division III World Series. The Beavers finished last year with a 9-31 overall record while the Blue Devils finished 20-17.

The Coaches: The 2020 season continues the new era for Wilmington College baseball team as the head coach Tony Vittorio starts his second season in charge of the program. He most recently served as the head coach at the University of Dayton for 18 seasons. Ed Mathey, a 1986 NCC graduate, is in his sixth season of his second stint as North Central's head coach while Mike Neal is in his 21st season as Blackburn's head coach. Bill Kincaid is in his fourth season on UW-Stout's coaching staff including his second as head coach.

The Hitters: Nick Silvis is Wilmington's top returning hitting having hit a .318 clip last season and finished second on the team in hits (47) and RBIs (20). Luke Kleindl returns having also driven in 20 runs including three home runs. The NCC duo of Joe Rizzo and Rob Marinec both return in 2020 having hit over .340 clips. Marinec tallied 13 doubles, 11 home runs and 53 RBIs to lead the team. Blackburn's top two hitters, Steven Diaz and Mitchell Binder, return having combined for over 80 hits while Kasey Bass had 15 doubles and 31 RBIs to lead the Blue Devils.

The Pitchers: Lance Fleischman and Jacob Griewahn are Wilmington's top two returning pitchers as far as innings pitched are concerned. Fleischman tallied two runs in 54.1 innings pitched to go along with a team-best 37 strikeouts. Charlie Klemm finished the 2019 season with a perfect 9-0 record and a 2.20 ERA in 69.2 innings pitched. Sammy Gordon led the Beavers with four wins last season while Jace Baumann had a 1.47 ERA in 18.1 innings pitched for UW-Stout.

Series History: Wilmington defeated Blackburn and fell to North Central last season. The Quakers have not faced UW-Stout in the last decade. More information can be found by visiting the links above.

Social Media: Wilmington athletics is represented on Facebook (Wilmington College Athletics), Twitter (@DubCQuakers) and Instagram (@DubCQuakers). Follow all the happenings of Wilmington College on social media by using the hashtag "#WeAreDubC".

Coverage: Fans are encouraged to follow @DubC_Baseball on Twitter for updates.

Up Next: Wilmington hosts Elmhurst College (Illinois) for its home-opener on Saturday, Feb. 29.