WILMINGTON, Ohio – Baldwin Wallace University, ranked No. 5 in the most recent D3baseball.com Top 25 Poll, swept the Wilmington College baseball team in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) action, winning game one 5-2 in 12 innings and the nightcap 12-2 at Tewksbury Delaney Field on Sunday.
In game one, Yellow Jacket starter Dawson Gabe had command problems as two walks in the first led to a Quaker run as Dominic Depa singled home Tyler Shaneyfelt. Wilmington doubled its lead in the bottom of the second as Tyler Shaneyfelt singled home Caleb Scott. Evan Kelsey then drew a walk to load the bases, but a shallow flyout and a fielder's choice ended the inning.
Leaving runners on base would prove to be a theme for WC in the game as the Quakers left the bases loaded in the fourth. BW plated a run in the top of the fifth, and if it wasn't for a diving catch from Evan Eilerman, the Yellow Jackets would have taken the lead.
The visitors continued to dance out of trouble as the hosts had two runners in scoring positions in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings and failed to deliver an RBI-hit. Ryan Guggenheim tied the game with a sacrifice fly to left in the top of the eighth, and Garrett Miller retired the Quakers in order in the ninth to send the game to extra innings.
BW nearly scored in the top of the 11th, but a diving catch from Jared Lammert in right field ended the inning and prevented the go-ahead run from scoring. Once again, WC loaded the bases in the in the bottom half of the inning, but a popup ended the threat. The Yellow Jackets won the game the following inning, plating three runs on four hits including a go-ahead, two-RBI double from Nick Clark in the 12th.
Aaron Boster received a no-decision despite a quality start of eight innings and two earned runs with five strikeouts on 128 pitches. Trent Mendenhall dipped to 2-3 on the season taking the loss in relief despite pitching four innings of scoreless baseball before the 12th. Dawson Gabe, BW's starter, pitched three-plus innings and allowed two earned runs on four hits with five walks. Tyler Walker pitched 4.1 innings of scoreless baseball for the Yellow Jackets, and Garrett Miller pitched the final 4.2 innings and earned the win to improve his record to 3-0.
BW finished with 14 hits including three from Sean Kolenich, Nick Clark and Ryan Guggenheim. WC had 11 hits with Shaneyfelt, Kyle Jennings Jesse Reliford and Caleb Scott all tallying multi-hit contests. The Quakers stole six bases and were just caught once, but couldn't deliver with runners in scoring position as the hosts were 3-for-19 with runners in scoring position, 3-for-22 with runners on base and 0-for-6 with the bases loaded.
In the nightcap, the Yellow Jackets showed why they are one of the best offensive teams in the country. Luke Chappie pitched around a fielding error in the first, but BW plated four runs on four hits in the second and added two more in the third. The Clinton-Massie High School alumnus pitched into the fifth, but departed after three straight hits opened the frame including two doubles that scored two runs. Zach Shepherd entered in relief, and after allowing two more runs in the fifth, pitched three scoreless innings before surrendering two in the ninth.
The Quakers' offense scored one run in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI-single from Shaneyfelt that scores J.C. Calhoun, who had doubled to right field for WC's first hit of the game to open the frame. That would be it, however, as the BW bullpen closed the door and complete the sweep.
Chappie fell to 0-2 on the season allowing seven earned runs on nine hits in four innings while Dylan Snider won his first game of the year for BW with a five-inning performance that featured one earned run on three hits with four strikeouts and two walks. Aidan Bennett, Brit Kostura and Garrett McLeod closed out the game for BW.
The Yellow Jackets pounded out 17 hits with Matt Terzola going 4-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored while Sean Kolenich was 3-for-6 with three RBIs. Calhoun led WC in defeat going 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored.
Wilmington (8-13, 0-4 OAC) hosts Asbury University for a single game on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
