Errors cost Baseball in opener against Rust
HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss. – Wiley College baseball player Ivan Del Villar hit his first career home runs but they were overshadowed by six fielding errors in a 15-14 extra-innings loss to Rust College at Bearcat Field Thursday in a Gulf Coast Athletic Conference game.
The Wildcats (11-12, 3-1 GCAC) fall to second place and fall for the first time scoring 10 or more runs. They gave up their second walk-off hit this season.
Del Villar's first blast came in the third inning – which brought home Luis Mares and Jhan Carlos Javier to extend Wiley College's lead to 10-6. His second home run brought home Javier and tied the game at 13 in the eighth inning with two outs. He gave the Wildcats the lead in the 11th when he scored on Emanuel Gutierrez' fly ball.
Wiley College struggled to make plays defensively. With two outs in the second inning and leading 7-3, a base hit extended Rust's at-bat. Two home runs shrunk the margin to one. Two errors in the third inning allowed the Bearcats to tie the game at 10.
After the Wildcats regained the lead in the sixth off a double by Javier and a ground ball by Orenthal Lewis, two walks and an error in the bottom of the seventh allowed Rust to take its first lead of the game at 13-11.
With two outs in the eighth, Javier walked to set up Del Villar's game-tying blast. In the 10th inning the Wildcats were unable to regain the lead with Mares placed at second. Two strikeouts and a caught stealing ended the inning. An error moved Rust's Victor Clay to third. Head coach Kendrick Biggs intentionally walked the next two batters with one out to set up a force at each base. Isaac Burciaga struck out the next two batters to keep the game tied.
Del Villar started the 11th inning on second base and advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Orenthal Lewis which put him in position to score on Gutierrez' fly ball. An error put runners on the corners for the Bearcats. A double tied the game but the Wildcats got the go-ahead run out at the plate on throw by Javier. A walk extended the inning and set up Malik Berrian's walk-off single.
Allan Mendoza went 4-for-6 with a run and RBI. Javier went 3-for-4, scored five runs and brought home two. Lewis drove in three runs on one hit. Alexander San Miguel went 1-for-3. Luis Chapa got a hit and scored a run.
Jalen Porter made his first start in conference play and went six innings. He allowed 13 runs but only seven were earned. He struck out nine. Burciaga pitched the remainder of the game and allowed two runs with one earned on four hits. He struck out six.
The series will resume at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
For more coverage on the Wildcats visit https://wileyathletics.com/sports/bsb/index
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