SUBJECT: Baseball Comes Back to Win Game 1 Against Saginaw Valley; Falls to Nova Southeastern in Nightcap
DATE: March 6, 2026
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AUBURNDALE, Fla. - - The 19th-ranked Wilmington University baseball earned a day-night split in Florida on Friday, coming back to defeat Saginaw Valley State, 4-3, before falling to Nova Southeastern, 11-1, in seven innings in the nightcap at Lake Myrtle Park.
GAME 1:
Chase Fleming pitched well again for the Wildcats, striking out eight batters in 6.0 innings. He only allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits in the no-decision. He kept it to a 2-0 lead until the offense came around in the fifth inning.
Saginaw Valley scored single runs in the top of the second and third innings with the Wildcats cutting the deficit in half in the fifth. Alex Wootton was hit by a pitch to start the fifth and was on second with one out. Zach Frame then singles back up the middle to make it 2-1.
The Cardinal had a runner on third with two outs in the seventh, but reliever Yoshi Conti induced a flyout to escape the jam. The Wildcats used some two-out magic in the bottom of the seventh to take the lead. Cam Trego started the inning with a single but was standing on third with two outs. Zach Frame reached on an error to extend the inning as Trego scored to tie the game. Tyler Pirrung then went the other way with a two-run single, giving the Wildcats a 4-2 lead.
Zack Czarnecki entered in the 8th and left runners on the corners. The Cardinal then loaded the bases with one out in the top of the 9th , but Garrett Quinn came on and induced a sacrifice fly and a game-ending strikeout for his third save of the season.
Cam Trego went 2-for-4 with a run and a stolen base.
GAME 2:
Nova Southeastern jumped out to a 7-1 lead after their first at-bat, leading to a run-rule walk-off, 11-1, in the bottom of the seventh.
The Wildcats got off to a good start in the nightcap, as D'Angelo Ponce hit a one-out single and MJ Phillips hit a two-out RBI double to make it a 1-0 game.
But the Sharks retaliated with seven runs on four hits, four walks, and one error, deflating the Wildcats with a 7-1 lead. The Sharks added a run in the third and two more in the fourth to take a 10-1 lead. The Wildcats left two runners on in the fourth and left the bases loaded in the sixth. A bases loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh brought the run-rule into effect for the Sharks, winning the game, 11-1.
Brian Klumpp was the only Wildcat with multiple hits, going 2-for-3. Charlie Porter and Joey Russo each worked a scoreless inning of relief for the Wildcats.
UP NEXT:
The Wildcats wrap up their trip to Florida with one final game on Saturday morning. They square off against Minnesota State in Davenport, with the first pitch scheduled for 10:15 a.m.