Baseball splits with Philander Smith
After dropping the opening game 14-4, the Wiley College baseball team bounced back to take the second game 10-5 Saturday at Airport Park.
The Wildcats (20-17, 12-5 GCAC) move to 10-9 at home. Their 20th victory is the most in a single season under head coach Kendrick Biggs. They are tied for second with Dillard University and trail Rust College by a half game. The Panthers hold a half game lead over Tougaloo College for fourth.
Ivan Del Villar went 2-for-4 in Game 2 with two runs and a run batted in. Luis Mares went 2-for-3 with an RBI triple and scored two runs. Emanuel Gutierrez went 2-for-3 with an RBI double and scored a run. Gabriel Garcia went 2-for-4 with a run. Kai Woodard hit his sixth home run of the season – bringing in Allan Mendoza. Caidin Franklin hit a two-RBI double.
Isaac Burciaga, who leads the GCAC in wins, picked up his seventh. He went the distance and struck out a career-high nine batters. Only three of the five runs he allowed were earned.
Woodard's two-run blast gave the Wildcats the lead in the first inning. Philander Smith answered in the second when Angel Figueroa reached on a passed ball on strike three. An error, a single and double brought home three runs.
Wiley College took the lead back in the second inning. Tre Wallace reached on a missed catch by the centerfielder. A single by Garcia moved him to third. A pair of errors brought both runners home. Del Villar hit a RBI single and Franklin hit a two-RBI double to put the Wildcats ahead 7-3.
After Philander Smith got a run on an error, Del Villar led off the fourth with a single. Luis Mares lined a ball down the right field line for a triple to score Del Villar. Gutierrez scored Mares with a double to center. He scored on a throwing error by the pitcher. The Panthers committed seven errors, including two drops on foul balls.
In the first game, the Wildcats fell behind after giving up three runs on three hits and an error. They bounced back with two runs. Allan Mendoza led off with a single and stole second after evading a rundown. A pair of wild pitches brought him home. Jhan Carlos Javier singled to left and drove in Woodard, who walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch.
The momentum was short-lived as Wiley College gave up five runs on five hits and an error in the second inning. It gave up five runs on five hits in the fifth inning and were in danger of being run-ruled. Javier and Del Villar singled. They advanced on Mares' fly ball to center. Jacob Perez who made his first start since March 11, drove in Javier and Del Villar with a single – extending the game.
Javier was the only Wildcat with multiple hits. Daniel Cox started and went 4 2/3 innings. He didn't have support of his defense as they made six errors. Coren Lewis pitched an inning and a third and Terrance Hill threw the last inning.
The Wildcats close the regular season at noon tomorrow. They will need to win and Rust and Dillard lose to clinch the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular season title and the first seed in next week's GCAC Championship.
For more coverage on the Wildcats visit https://wileyathletics.com/sports/bsb/index
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