Baseball overpowers Philander Smith in first two games
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Wiley College baseball team jumped out to early leads to take the first two games against Philander Smith College in 8-4 and 9-3 victories Friday at Burns Field.
The Wildcats (15-15, 7-4 GCAC) improve to 9-8 on the road and move within a half game of Dillard University for second and 1.5 games of the conference leader Rust College. The Panthers have lost four straight conference games and are tied with Tougaloo College for fourth in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference.
In the first game, Ivan Del Villar went 3-for-4 with three doubles, a run and a run batted in. Jhan Carlos Javier went 2-for-3, hitting his fifth home run of the season – which is tied for second in the conference. He scored two runs and drove in two. Marquis Kuykendall went 1-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. Alexander San Miguel hit a RBI single.
Daniel Cox threw his second consecutive complete game – joining his teammate Jalen Porter who accomplished the feat in games on February 11 and 17. In seven innings, Cox limited the Panthers to three earned runs on six hits, one walk and three strikeouts.
Wiley College sent 10 batters to the plate in the first inning. With two outs, Javier drew a walk. Del Villar brought him home with his first double. San Miguel brought him home with a single. Kuykendall followed with an RBI single. An error plated Derwin Cooks, who courtesy ran for San Miguel and Kuykendall, giving the Wildcats a 5-0 lead.
In the fourth inning, Allan Mendoza led off with a walk and came home on Javier's home run. Philander Smith answered with two runs on three hits. With one out in the fifth, Kuykendall walked and would score on a wild pitch. An error and two balks helped the Panthers trim the deficit to four. Cox retired six of the next seven batters he faced.
The Wildcats pounded Philander Smith's pitchers for 11 hits in the second game. Luis Mares went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a run and three RBIs. Del Villar went 2-for-4 with a double, a run and an RBI. Emanuel Gutierrez went 2-for-4 with a run and RBI. Julian Rosales hit his first home run of the season with a three-run blast in the fourth.
Isaac Burciaga made his sixth start of the season. He went four innings, allowing three runs on five hits, three walks and struck out five – earning his conference-leading fifth victory of the season. Burciaga escaped a bases loaded jam in the second with a strikeout. He got two strikeouts and a pop out after the first two batters reached in the fourth inning.
Jalen Porter took over in the fifth with two on and no one out. After allowing two batters to reach, he struck out six straight batters. He allowed a single in the seventh but struck out the last two hitters to record his first career save.
Wiley College was held scoreless in the first inning. With one out, Darion Wallace walked and Trey Perkins singled. Mares hit a double with two outs to score both runners. Del Villar led off the third with his fourth double of the series. Gutierrez brought him home with a single. With two outs, Perkins walked to set up Rosales' blast. The Wildcats added a run in the fourth. Matthew Drabbant singled with one out. Cooks courtesy ran and stole second and third. An error would bring him home.
The Panthers (9-16, 5-6 GCAC) pulled within four with three runs on three hits and two walks in the fifth inning. Wiley College added insurance runs in the seventh inning. Perkins led off by being hit by the pitch. A sacrifice bunt moved him to second and he scored on a single by Mares. Del Villar drove in Mares with a two-out single.
The series concludes at noon on Saturday.
For more coverage on the Wildcats visit https://wileyathletics.com/sports/bsb/index
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