Baseball Falls in Opening Games against Talladega College
The defending Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular season champion Wiley University baseball team could not maintain its momentum from a strong start in a 9-7 loss in the first game. In Game 2, its late offensive surge wasn't enough to overcome an early deficit in a 14-9 loss against Talladega College in Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference games Friday at Coker Field.
The Wildcats (16-11, 8-3 HBCUAC) drop their third straight game and fall three games behind the Tornadoes. It's also their sixth straight loss against Talladega.
Jalen Porter started the first game and struggled with command which allowed Talladega to load the bases. He recovered and struck out the next batter and got Isaac Guzman to line out to Amir Mason, who flipped to Abel Rodriguez Jr. to complete a double play.
Wiley carried the momentum into their first at-bat. Eddie Garza led off with a single. Jacob Perez brought him home with his third home run of the season. Jhan Carlos Javier led off the second with his third home run. Smauri Abram walked and Rodriguez singled. Talladega's catcher Armando Jackson overthrew the first baseman on a pickoff. Abram scored and Rodriguez advanced to third. Amir Mason hit an RBI double just over the left fielder to score Rodriguez, giving the Wildcats a 5-0 lead.
After holding the Tornadoes to a run in the first three innings, Wiley could not contain them in the fourth, in part because the home plate umpire limited his strike zone, which gave Talladega more hittable pitches. Wiley allowed five runs on four hits, falling behind 6-5. Porter got out of the inning by getting Jahir Cruz to ground into a double play. Wiley tied the game in the bottom of the fourth. Rodriguez singled, Garza reached on an error and Mason walked to load the bases. Rodriguez scored the tying run when Perez was hit by the pitch.
The Wildcats fell behind after allowing three runs on three hits. After tagging Talladega's starter Emilio Duque for six runs on nine hits, they struggled against reliever Christian Delgado, only recording one hit in 2 1/3 innings. They tried to rally in the seventh. With two outs, Javier walked. Abram drove him in with a double to right-center field. A groundout ended the comeback attempt.
Garza, Ivan Del Villar, Abram and Rodriguez each had two hits. Javier and Rodriguez scored two runs. Perez had three RBI. Seven Wildcats recorded hits. Porter went six innings and allowed nine runs (eight earned) on nine hits and struck out four. Ethan Jones threw a scoreless seventh inning.
In Game 2, the Wildcats could not keep the Tornadoes off the scoreboard as they allowed runs in six of seven innings. They allowed three home runs and trailed 12-0 after 4.5 innings. Garza and Perez reached on fielder's choices. Ryan Ready walked with two outs to load the bases. Del Villar hammered a pitch over the left field wall for his second grand slam and eighth home run. Javier continued the rally with a walk. Kai Woodard, who started at designated hitter, cut the lead in half with his first home run.
Trailing 14-7, the Wildcats once again attempted to come back in the seventh. With one out, Brendan Mendoza, Rodriguez and Garza walked to load the bases. Jacob Perez hit a single up the middle with two outs, to bring home Sental Washington, who courtesy ran for Mendoza, and Rodriguez. A ground ball to short ended the game.
The Wildcats wrap the series at noon on Saturday.
For more coverage on the Wildcats visit https://wileyathletics.com/sports/bsb/index
About Wiley University Athletics
Wiley University sponsors 12 varsity sports: women's volleyball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's and women's outdoor track and field and baseball. It competes in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) and the Continental Athletic Conference for men's and women's soccer.
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