Baseball squeezes past Philander Smith in GCAC Baseball Championship
JACKSON, Miss. - The Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular season champion Wiley University Baseball team took advantage of free bases and a strong relief outing by Nick Rodriguez to eke out a 7-5 victory over No. 8 seed Philander Smith University in its first game of the 2024 Hope Credit Union Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Wednesday at the Hank Aaron Sports Academy.
Abel Rodriguez went 2-for-3 with a run and a run batted in. Ivan Del Villar got a hit and drove in two runs. Amir Mason recorded a hit, a run and an RBI. Kai Woodard went 1-for-2 and drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly. The Wildcats stole seven bases. Eddie Garza stole three and Abel Rodriguez had two. Wiley benefited from 11 walks, four hit batters and two errors.
Nick Rodriguez threw 7 1/3 innings in relief. He held the Panthers to two runs on four hits, walked two and struck out five - earning his fifth victory. He retired the last 13 batters he faced. Jalen Porter started for the first time since March 24.
After Philander Smith scored on a double steal, Wiley pulled off a double steal in the first with Ready taking second and Garza swiping home. Ready advanced on a passed ball and scored on a ground ball to put Wiley in front.
The Panthers (2-31) retook the lead with two runs on two hits and two walks in the second inning. Nick Rodriguez ended the Panthers' third inning by picking off a runner at second. Abel Rodriguez led off the bottom half with a single. A balk moved him to second. Following a walk by Garza, Jacob Perez laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Abel Rodriguez and Garza into scoring position. Del Villar's two-RBI single gave the Wildcats a 4-3 lead. Wiley added a run in the fourth when Brendan Mendoza reached second on an error. Ajari Camp courtesy ran and advanced to third on a fly ball by Woodard. Abel Rodriguez brought home Camp with his second hit.
Philander Smith had another rally in it, tying the game with two runs on three hits in the fifth. Amir Mason led off the bottom half by being hit by a pitch and stole second. Jhan Carlos Javier walked and both runners moved into scoring position on Mendoza's sacrifice bunt - which set up Woodard's go-ahead sacrifice fly. Javier increased the lead to two as he scored on a passed ball.
The Wildcats (25-17) will play No. 5 seed Rust College in the second round at 4 p.m. Thursday. The Bearcats got the only upset of the day with a 6-3 victory over the No. 4 seed Southern University at New Orleans. Wiley swept Rust at home on March 23 and 24 with two victories being walk-offs.
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