Press Release written by Mitchell Coll
WATERBURY, Conn. - - It was a short stay in Connecticut for the Wilmington University baseball team, as the Wildcats lost a pair of games in the 2023 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament on Thursday, dropping the opener, 8-2, to Felician before being eliminated by Post, 7-1, at Municipal Stadium.
GAME 1:
The Golden Falcons, the number two ranked team in the North Division, scored two early runs in the top of the second inning, as two doubles led to the two runs scored.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Wildcats cut the deficit in half with a run. Nick Nocella started off the inning with a double to left field. Now on third, Nocella scored on an RBI groundout by Shawn Haut.
The Golden Falcons tacked on three more runs in the top of the sixth. Felician hit three doubles in the inning, scoring on two of them and a Wildcat error to make it 5-1.
The Wildcats gained back a run at the bottom of the sixth. Nocella connected on another double to left field, which advanced Jack McDonald to third. Eddie Parry picked up a sacrifice fly, but the Wildcats left two on in the inning.
A couple more extra base hits scored two for the Falcons in the seventh and they added a final run in the ninth to settle on the final score, 8-2.
Nick Nocella finished with two doubles and three hits. Eddie Parry and Shawn Haut picked up RBI. Matt Warrington picked up his first loss of the season, going five innings with five strikeouts.
GAME 2:
The Eagles got ahead early by scoring two runs in the bottom of the third. Post's three straight hits to start the inning allowed them to establish the early lead.
The Wildcats left two runners on in the top of the fourth inning with two outs but couldn't convert. Adrian Jimenez hit a leadoff double in the fifth, but he was left at third.
A four-hit sixth inning by the Eagles allowed them to stretch their lead to 6-0. The Wildcats gained a run back in the top of the seventh but left two on base to end the inning. JJ Killen again singled to center field. Then Nic Hertzfeld reached on a fielder's choice. Back-to-back singles with two outs from Nick Classie and Erik Grady allowed Hertzfeld to score.
Dom Grady pitched a three-up and three-down inning in the bottom of the seventh. Grady struck out two batters swinging and caused one batter to fly out.
In the final two innings, the Wildcat's bats could not get going as Post limited the Wildcats to six hits throughout the game.
Erik Grady finished the game with two hits, three at-bats, and one RBI and earned a walk. JJ Killen went 2-for-4. Maxwell struck out two batters and went 5.1 innings. Dom Grady finished out the game and struck out four batters.
The Wildcats wrapped up the regular season and CACC Tournament play 27-21 on the season.