LIVE STATS - LYNCHBURG | PIEDMONT
LIVE VIDEO - LYNCHBURG | PIEDMONT
WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Wilmington College baseball team opens its 2023 campaign at the Piedmont Early Spring Tournament hosted by Piedmont University in Demorest, Georgia, this weekend.
The Schedule: The Quakers will face the University of Lynchburg (Virginia) at 3 p.m., the University of La Verne (California) at noon on Friday and Saturday respectively. Wilmington will take on the host Lions at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
The Teams: Wilmington, Lynchburg, La Verne and Piedmont. These three games serve as the season-opening weekend for the Quakers, who are looking to build upon a 21-19 overall record from a season ago. The Hornets won the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) last season and finished the year 36-12 with an appearance in the NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament. The The Leopards are 2-2 on the season while the Lions are 2-1 after winning a three-game series at No. 20 California Lutheran University.
The Coaches: Tony Vittorio, who formerly led the University of Dayton's baseball program for 18 seasons, is in his fifth season as Wilmington's head coach in 2023. He helped lead the Quakers to a 21-19 overall record last season. Lucas Jones, a 2005 Lynchburg alumnus, is in his sixth season coaching his alma mater while Scott Winterburn enters his 21st season as La Verne's head coach. Justin Scali has been Piedmont's head coach since the 2017 season.
The Hitters: Wilmington returns two of its top offensive threats from a season ago in Caleb Scott and Dominic Depa. Scott set a pogram record for RBIs in a single season with 53 to go along with six home runs and a .403 batting average while Depa drove in 38 and hit a .353 clip. Tyler Shaneyfelt and Evan Kelsey combined to steal nearly 50 bases in 2022 and will look to top that this season. Avery Neaves leads Lynchburg into the 2023 campaign having hit .419 with 16 home runs and 65 RBIs during his junior season. Noah Garcia has hit .750 for La Verne thus far this season while Tyler Nelson, Kyle Carlson and Kolton Hicks have all hit over a .400 clip for Piedmont through three games.
The Pitchers: Aaron Boster logged 72 innings for Wilmington in 2022 and tallied 72 strikeouts with a 6.00 ERA. Tyler Shaneyfelt led the team in ERA (3.60) while Kaleb Stines pitched two complete games. A trio of Hornets - Nick Mattfield, Zack Potts and Jack Bachmore - pitched over 70 innings while Gerald Terry leads the Leopards with 13 stikeouts and 10 innings with a 1.80 ERA early in 2023. Bodle Ellertson and Aidan Cooney have the Lions' victories.
Top 25: Lynchburg checks in at No. 16 in the D3Baseball.com Preseason Poll.
D3Baseball.com Region 7 Preview: D3Baseball.com called Wilmington "one of the most intriguing stories in NCAA Division III baseball" in its Region 7 preview.
Series History: Wilmington has not played any of its three weekend opponents in the last 15 seasons.
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 matchups with Lynchburg and Piedmont – visit the link above. Note, there will not be in-game coverage of the LaVerne game.
Up Next: Wilmington heads back South, this time to Alabama, for three games in Hoover.
