Baseball out slugs Rust College, regain first in GCAC
HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss. – The Wiley College baseball team jumped out and held off a late rally by Rust College to regain first place in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference with an 8-6 victory Sunday at Bearcat Field.
The Wildcats (13-12, 5-1 GCAC) have a winning record for the first time since winning their season opener. They lead Rust College, Dillard University and Philander Smith College by a game.
Jhan Carlos Javier went 3-for-4 with a run and a run batted in. Kai Woodard went 2-for-4 with a run and RBI. Luis Mares went 2-for-3 with two runs and a double. Emanuel Gutierrez had a two-RBI double. Orenthal Lewis hit a RBI double and scored. Ivan Del Villar had a base hit, a run and three RBIs. Luis Chapa and Allan Mendoza each got a hit and scored.
With two outs in the first inning, Javier doubled and Del Villar walked. Lewis brought home Javier with his double. Gutierrez scored Del Villar and Lewis with his double to right – giving Wiley College a 3-0 lead after the first inning. Mares doubled with one out in the second inning. He advanced on a fly ball by Mendoza and scored on a single by Woodard.
Two walks and an error helped Rust cut the lead in half. The Wildcats bounced back in the fourth inning. Chapa and Mares singled. Mendoza was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Javier scored Chapa with a single to left field. Mares scored on Del Villar's ground ball to shortstop.
Stone Teague hit his second home run of the series to pull Rust within three. With one out in the sixth inning, Mendoza hit an infield single and Woodard singled to left. Both runners advanced on a fly ball by Javier. Del Villar brought both of them home on a single to left – giving the Wildcats their largest lead of the game at 8-3.
Two walks helped Rust College score two in the sixth. Isaac Burciaga ended the rally with a strikeout. A walk and a double pulled the Bearcats within two, but Burciaga finished off the Bearcats with a strikeout.
Daniel Cox started and went 5 2/3 innings to pick up his second victory. Only three of the five runs he allowed were earned. Cox struck out 10 batters – marking his second consecutive start with double-digit strikeouts. Burciaga picked up his first career save – holding the Bearcats to a run on a hit, a walk and two strikeouts.
The Wildcats will visit Dillard University for a three-game series beginning Friday. The Bleu Devils took two out three against Tougaloo College.
For more coverage on the Wildcats visit https://wileyathletics.com/sports/bsb/index
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