WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Wilmington College baseball team hosts Franklin College for a single non-conference contest at Tewksbury Delaney Field on Thursday (note the day change). First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
The Teams: Wilmington and Franklin. The Fightin' Quakers enter the mid-week contest with a 6-4 record after taking 1-of-3 games in the #QuakerBowlRivalry series with Earlham College over the weekend. The Grizzlies are 4-2 on the season after playing two Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAA) foes. Franklin swept Albion College in late February and fell in 2-of-3 games to Hope College last 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. Lance Marshall, also an associate director of athletics at Franklin, has led the Grizzlies to over 500 victories in his 23 seasons as head coach.
The Hitters: A quartet of Quakers - Evan Kelsey, Caleb Scott, Dominic Depa, and Moses Garza - hit over a .400 clip with Kelsey leading the way at a .467 clip and a team-high 21 hits. Scott as four doubles while Depa and Aaron Burns have both hit three home runs. Logan Demkovich and Noah Wood have both driven in 10 runs with Demkovich hitting a .611 clip on the season with five home runs.
The Pitchers: Jesse Reliford has been Wilmington's most effective pitcher to date, earning two wins and a save in 5.1 innings of work with an ERA of 1.69. Aaron Boster, who has pitched a team-high 14.1 innings, has struck out 16 batters and has an ERA of 6.28. Franklin is led by a pitching duo of Jackson Young and Nick McClanahan who have both pitched over 10 innings and have ERAs under 3.20. McClanahan has yet to surrender an earned run and averages over 15 strikeouts per nine innings pitched.
OAC Hitter of the Week: Evan Kelsey, who hit .476 with 10 hits and two stolen bases, is this week's OAC Hitter of the week.
Series History: Wilmington is 3-5 against Franklin in the last decade including winning the last contest 18-9 on March 17, 2019. 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 of the game will be available – visit the link above.
Up Next: Wilmington hosts MIAA member Olivet College for a three-game series this weekend.
