Baseball takes on Talladega with GCAC Regular Season Title at Stake

The first-place Wiley University baseball team will travel to Talladega College for a pivotal series in the race for the 2024 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular season title on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday's doubleheader starts at noon and Sunday's finale starts at 1 p.m. Live statistics will be provided for the games. The links are listed in the baseball schedule on wileyathletics.com.

The Wildcats (18-14, 12-0 GCAC) lead the Tornadoes by 2.5 games and are on a four-game winning streak. They dominated Oakwood University 49-11 in their three-game series last week. On Tuesday, Wiley overcame a 10-1 deficit in the ninth inning to defeat Texas A&M University-Texarkana 11-10 in 10 innings. It was its largest comeback since before 2007. 

Allan Mendoza went 8-for-12 in the series against Oakwood, with three doubles, seven stolen bases, seven runs batted in and nine runs scored. Keyon Guillory and Jaylen Cream pitched complete games. Isaac Burciaga picked up his fourth victory.

Amir Mason went 3-for-5 and scored two runs against Texas A&M-Texarkana. His third hit started the rally in the ninth inning. Abel Rodriguez went 2-for-4 and hit a two-RBI double in the ninth. Jacob Perez hit a two-run single and Ryan Ready hit a three-run home run. 

Talladega (21-14, 9-2 GCAC) is coming off a split against No. 10 Faulkner University last week. On Tuesday it swept Tougaloo College in a doubleheader. Miguel Oropeza is one of the top hitters in the country with a .509 batting average and 39 RBI. Twenty of his hits have gone for extra bases with 13 doubles, two triples and five home runs. Darlin Fernandez is tied for third in the GCAC with six home runs. He is hitting .316 with 37 runs and 17 RBI.

Samuel Guadamuz is 7-2 with a 3.18 earned run average. He has struck out 68 in 51 innings. Jose Franco is 5-3 with a 4.17 ERA. He struck out 48 batters in 45 1/3 innings. Ramses Ortega has three saves and Jack Wood has two.

The series will mark the first time the Wildcats and Tornadoes have met on the diamond. Before rejoining the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference, Talladega competed in the Southern States Athletic Conference.

For more coverage on the Wildcats visit Baseball - Wiley University (wileyathletics.com)

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