WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Wilmington College baseball team heads to rival Earlham College for the annual Quaker Bowl Rivalry series this weekend.
The Schedule: Wilmington will face Earlham in a single game at 5 p.m. on Friday followed by a doubleheader scheduled to begin at noon on Saturday. All games are slated to be played at Randal R. Sadler Stadium in Richmond, Indiana.
The Teams: Wilmington and Earlham. The Quakers of Wilmington enter the matchup with a 3-6 overall record, but riding a three-game winning streak after dispatching Franklin College 7-4 in WC's home-opener on Wednesday. The Quakers of Earlham stand at 5-2 on the season after splitting a four-game series with Illinois Institute of Technology last weekend.
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. Steve Sakosits, the winningest coach in Earlham history, enters his 13th season in charge of the Quakers. Earlham has won two Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Championships during his tenure including most recently last season.
The Hitters: The top of Wilmington's order has gotten on base early and often as Tyler Shaneyfelt and Evan Kelsey both hit over a .350 clip for the season. The WC duo have also swiped a combined 15 stolen bases and only been caught a single time. Kyle Jennings launched the team's first home run of the year in Wilmington's 7-4 win over Franklin on Wednesday. Carter Vilevac and Michael Medley have both hit over the .350 mark for Earlham this season while Max Fries has drive in a team-high nine runs.
The Pitchers: Jesse Reliford and Kaleb Stines, both of whom pitched successfully in the win over the Grizzlies, have perfect ERAs and have pitched at least five innings. Stines earned the victory by pitching 6.2 innings of relief baseball while Reliford has tallied a save in each of Wc's victories thus far this season. Aaon Boster and Trent Mendenhall both have ERAs between 3.00-4.50. Both Nick Carrizales and Cason Brennett have logged double-digit innings for Earlham with Carrizales' 2.13 ERA leading the team.
Series History: Wilmington is 1-21 against Earlham since the 2012 season. WC won 1-of-3 in the series last year. 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 Franklin College for a single game at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 15.
