NEW CASTLE, Del. - - A ninth inning comeback fell a run short in the second game of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference opening doubleheader for the Wilmington University baseball team, as it routed Dominican College, 15-2, in game one but fell, 7-6, in game two on Saturday afternoon at Wilson Field.
In a matchup of last year's CACC Tournament Championship game, the doubleheader was defined by big innings as Wilmington (10-5, 1-1 CACC) scored six runs in the fifth inning and five runs in the seventh inning of the first game to claim the lopsided victory. The second game of the day was decided by a four run top of the seventh inning by Dominican (3-11, 1-1 CACC) to give the Chargers a three-run lead at the time.
Tied at 2-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth in game one, the Wildcat bats woke up and put a six spot on the board to take control of the opening conference game. The scoring started on a perfectly executed hit-and-run by Joe Harbach at the plate and Brendan Fallers on the base paths. With Fallers off and running from first, Harbach lined a double down the left field line, chasing Fallers all the way around to score.
After Mike Godwin was intentionally walked because he was 2-for-2 with two doubles before that, Jordan Oncay singled through the right side to score Harbach from second to make it 4-2. The Wildcats went on to score four more unearned runs, as the Chargers committed three errors with two outs in the inning.
The Wildcats added two more in the sixth as Harbach and Godwin led off the inning with back-to-back doubles to move ahead 9-2. Now on third after advancing on a sacrifice bunt, Godwin scored the team's 10 run on a sacrifice fly by Bryan Miller.
With the lead never in doubt, the Wildcats tacked on five more runs in the seventh on four hits in the inning to take a commanding 15-2 lead with two innings to play.
Tyler Fries came on to pitch the eighth after another outstanding outing by starter Jamie Treml. Fries threw a scoreless eighth inning with two strikeouts and handed the ball over to Tim Racek to finish off the game. Racek struck out one batter in a scoreless ninth inning.
Treml struck out eight batters in seven innings of work to earn the win. He is now 2-0 on the year after giving up two runs on five hits while only walking one batter.
Godwin finished 3-for-3 with three doubles, three RBI's and two runs scored in game one. Harbach also had two doubles on a 3-for-5 game.
The second game of the doubleheader got off to a fast start as Dominican raced out to a 2-1 lead after the first inning. Jordan Johnson reached to lead off the bottom of the first as the first baseman was unable to come up with the throw from third, and the Chargers paid for it on Godwin's fourth consecutive double of the afternoon.
Trailing 3-1, the Wildcats tied the game for the first time with a two-run fourth inning. The rally started on back-to-back walks with the bases empty and two outs. Harbach made the walks hurt with a triple into the gap in right for his third and fourth RBI's of the afternoon.
Starter Dave Hatt shut down the Dominican offense after the third inning and gave the Wildcats' bats a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Again with two outs and the bases empty, Godwin was hit by a pitch to start the rally. After advancing to second on a wild pitch, Oncay sliced a single down the left field line for the RBI and to take the lead.
Dominican responded with four runs of its own in the top of the seventh. Ryan Lally relieved Hatt and quickly got a strikeout for the first out of the inning. But four consecutive hits by the Chargers and an error on the Wildcats allowed Dominican to grab a 7-4 lead.
Dominican's Justin Moore ran into trouble in the ninth but left fielder Tony Blake ran down a line drive off the bat of Godwin in left center to keep the damage to two runs and pick up the save. Frank Samluk doubled down the right field line to put runners on second and third and Harbach picked up two more RBI's with single into right field. With the tying run on first, Godwin laid into one and put it in the gap, but Blake tracked it down for the nice running catch.
Harbach finished 3-for-6 with four RBI's for game two, making him 6-for-11 with six RBI's and three runs scored for the afternoon. Oncay, Kyle Hitchens, and Samluk each added two hits for the Wildcats.
Lally was saddled with the loss, giving up four runs (three earned) in the seventh. Hatt threw the first six innings, striking out three and giving up three runs (two earned) on eight hits for the no decision. Nick Marics and Rob Gore each threw a scoreless inning to give the Wildcats' a chance late.
Wilmington in stay in conference play to start next week, as the Wildcats welcome the University of the Sciences on Tuesday. The doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m. at Wilson Field.
