WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Wilmington College baseball team hosts Franklin College on its home-opener on Wednesday. Tip-off from Tewksbury-Delaney Field is scheduled for 3 p.m.
The Teams: Wilmington and Franklin. The Quakers enter the game with a 2-6 overall record, but riding a two-game winning streak after defeating Ohio Wesleyan University 3-0 and Mount St. Joseph University 8-6 in Florence, Kentucky, on Sunday. The Grizzlies stand at 4-2 on the season after splitting a twinbill with Hope College over the weekend. Franklin lost game one 14-12, but rebounded to take the nightcap 5-4.
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. Lance Marshall was named Franklin's head baseball coach in August of 1997. He's also an associate director of athletics at the College.
The Hitters: Evan Kelsey and Tyler Shaneyfelt both have double-digit hits on the season for Wilmington and boast averages over a .340 clips. The Quaker duo has also combined for 10 stolen bases while Dominic Depa has team doubles. Jesse Reliford leads the team in walks with four. Noah Wood leads the Franklin offense with a .412 batting average while Sean Sullivan has left the park three times on the young season.
The Pitchers: Aaron Boster leads Wilmington in innings pitched at 18.1 and is coming off of a quality start and his first win of the season against OWU on Sunday. Reliford also had a great Sunday, earning two saves. He leads the Quakers in strikeouts per nine innings at 11.57. Trent Mendenhall and Zach Shepherd are the other two pitches to have under a 4.50 ERA and logged at least six innings. Matthew Johnson has two of Franklin's wins on the season and carries a 0.96 ERA in 9.1 innings pitched with 17 strikeouts.
Series History: Wilmington is 4-6 against Franklin since the 2008 season. The teams have split the season series each of the last two years. More information on the series history can be found 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 matchup= will be available – visit the link above.
Up Next: Wilmington will head to Earlham College for a three-game Quaker Bowl Rivalry series this weekend.
