WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Wilmington College baseball team brings a four-game winning streak into a three-game, Quaker Bowl Rivalry series at Earlham College's Randal R. Sadler Stadium this weekend.
The Schedule: The two teams will play a doubleheader beginning at noon on Saturday with a single game, also scheduled to start at noon, on Sunday.
The Teams: Wilmington and Earlham. The Fightin' Quakers are off to a 5-2 start, one of their best in recent memory, after a dramatic 6-5 walk-off victory over Bluffton University on a steal of home plate on Tuesday. The Hustlin' Quakers are 3-0 after a home sweep of Olivet College over the weekend.
The Coaches: Tony Vittorio, who formerly led the University of Dayton's baseball program for 18 seasons, enters his fourth season as Wilmington's head coach. For the first time in nearly a decade in 2021, the Quakers didn't finish 10th in the OAC, turning in an eighth-place finish with a 10-24 conference mark. Steve Sakosits is the winningest baseball coach in Earlham history. He's guided EC to nearly 200 victories in his 11 years as head coach.
The Hitters: Caleb Scott and Evan Kelsey enter the series red hot as both are hitting over a .450 clip. Scott, who drove in three runs in WC's win over Bluffton on Tuesday, has four doubles and nine RBIs while Kelsey has 13 hits and a team-best five stolen bases. Owen Baumann and Jesse Reliford have also tallied over 10 hits each while Dominic Depa has driven in a team-best 11 runs. Cameron McCabe and Andrew Bradley both hit a .500 clip for Earlham while Maxwell Fries has two triples and a team-best eight RBIs. Nathan Lancianese stolen five bases on five attempts against Olivet.
The Pitchers: Luke Chappie, Austin Christman, Kaleb Stines, Tre Nixon and Reliford all have wins for Wilmington on the mound. Chappie leads the team in innings pitched (10.1) and is joined by Aaron Boster with nine strikeouts. Reliford has a squad-best 3.82 ERA. Evan Griswold, Nick Carrizales and Justin Fillhoff have Earlham's wins with Dillhoff and Aidan Talarek pitching at least five innings. The two aformentioned EC Quakers have also fanned six batters.
OAC Hitter of the Week: Dominic Depa, thanks in part to a .500 average, two home runs and a grand slam, is this week's OAC Hitter of the Week.
Series History: Wilmington is winless against Earlham in 19 tries over the last decade. More information on the series history can be viewed by visiting the link 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: Live statistics and live video of the game will be available – visit the link above.
Up Next: Wilmington hosts Franklin College for a single game on Tuesday.
