WILMINGTON, Ohio - The Wilmington College baseball team dug itself a 5-1 hole in its home-opener, but battled back to win a 6-5 game in dramatic fashion over Bluffton University at Tewksbury-Delaney Field on Tuesday afternoon.
Mac Davis, who had the Fightin' Quakers' best pitching marks entering the game, left after just three batters after loading the bases with two walks and a hit by pitch. GlenAllen Anderson entered in relief and minimized the damage, but not before a two-run double from Nathaniel DeWeese put the Beavers up 2-0. The Quakers would get a run back on an RBI-single from Caleb Scott in the bottom half of the inning, but Bluffton got the run back in the fourth with an infield hit.
History would repeat itself for Wilmington in the fifth as Tre Nixon, who relieved Anderson to begin the frame, walked the bases loaded. Kaleb Stines, just like Anderson, minimized what could have been a large inning to just a pair of runs. A double play ended the bottom of the fifth and Bluffton took a 5-1 lead into the sixth.
The Beavers couldn't solve Stines, however, as the sophomore would allow just four hits over four innings without surrendering a run. The Quakers began to chip away at the deficit as Dominic Depa, the reigning Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Hitter of the Week, scored Jesse Reliford on a sacrifice fly in the sixth. In the seventh, Caleb Scott doubled home both Owen Baumann and Evan Kelsey to get WC within a single run at 5-4. Aaron Burns, the next batter, looked to tie the game with a sacrifice fly, but Jesse Reliford was doubled up for leaving early at third.
Another 1-2-3 inning from Stines in the eighth setup a Baumann RBI-single to tie the game the bottom half. The Quakers couldn't deliver with the bases loaded, however, and the game went into the ninth tied 5-5. Reliford came in to pitch in the frame and stranded a single with a strikeout looking. In the bottom of the ninth, the script flipped as it was Wilmington who loaded the bases with no outs. A foul out and strikeout looking followed, however, and Bluffton was one out away from forcing extra innings. Tyler Shaneyfelt had other ideas, and after almost getting caught in a pickle, the sophomore beat out the throw to home for the walk-off steal.
Reliford earned the win, striking out two Beavers in the ninth, though the work of Anderson and Stines in relief kept things close. Bluffton used seven pitchers in a pre-planned bullpen day with Seth Evans taking the loss in the ninth.
Offensively, Scott finished 4-of-5 with three RBIs while Kelsey and Baumann had two hits each for Wilmington. Jake Baumgartner had two hits for Bluffton in defeat.
Wilmington (5-2) heads to Earlham College for a three-game Quaker Bowl Rivalry series this weekend.
.
