Press Release Written by Nathan Foltz
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NEW CASTLE, Del. - - The Wilmington University baseball team swept a doubleheader with Caldwell on Saturday, winning Game 1 11-1 in seven innings before coming away with a much closer 2-1 victory in Game 2 at Wilson Field in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference matchup.
Wilmington scored runs in three of the first four innings in Game 1 before breaking out for six in the seventh to trigger the run rule. The only Wildcat scoring in Game 2 came on two third-inning runs, while Caldwell made some noise in the seventh in an ultimately unsuccessful comeback attempt.
Tyler Pirrung led the way for the Wildcats, lacing singles in his first seven at-bats between the two games on Saturday before finally being retired in his eighth trip to the plate in Game 2. Dating back to Wednesday's game at Chestnut Hill, he hit safely in eight consecutive at-bats with a hit by pitch worked into the mix as well. Cam Trego followed him in the lineup in both games and was able to drive him in twice as part of his four RBIs on the day, beating out Pirrung's three for team-tops on the afternoon.
GAME 1:
The Cougars couldn't get anything going against Xavier Cortez, who ended up turning in a complete game effort with the Wildcat offensive explosion in the bottom of the seventh. He gave up one run in his seven innings of work, allowing five hits and two walks with seven punchouts.
Wilmington took an early lead in the bottom of the first, going up 1-0 on an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Brian Klumpp. They got two more in the second with RBI singles by Garrett Quinn and Tyler Pirrung, then tacked on another two in the fourth when Chase Fleming drove in Pirrung and Cam Trego on a single through the right side.
The bats quieted down in the next two innings for Wilmington outside of a Pirrung single, and Caldwell finally got a run in the sixth on a sac fly that made it 5-1. The offense started back up in a big way, though, with Zach Frame leading off the bottom of the seventh with a solo homer to right. A Brett Walmsley double then gave Justin Hernandez an RBI opportunity, and he promptly dumped a single into center to score him. Pirrung ripped his fifth single of the game through the left side to score Hernandez, and then Cam Trego put an exclamation point on the game with a run-rule inducing walk-off three-run homer.
Trego's three RBI led the team, but Pirrung and Fleming each brought in two as well. Zach Frame, Brett Walmsley, and Garrett Quinn all went 2-4, with Frame and Walmsley each lacing a double. In addition to his 5-5 performance, Pirrung stole three bases without getting caught.
GAME 2:
The second game of the day was a much tighter affair, though Wilmington had baserunners in each of the first five innings. The only runs they scored came in the fifth, where Garrett Quinn led off with a single, then moved all the way up to third on a bad backpick attempt. Tyler Pirrung notched single number seven on the day to drive him in, then scored on Cam Trego's subsequent double.
Looking for a save after entering the game in the sixth inning of the seven-inning contest, Scott Borgmann seemingly had things locked down in the top of the seventh with back-to-back strikeouts to start things off. He was ambushed by the inning's third batter, however, who deposited the first pitch he saw over the left field wall for Borgmann's first earned run in 21.1 innings to start the year. Things then got a little dicey, with a two-out walk and stolen base putting the tying run at second, but Borgmann came back to fire his third punchout of the inning and slam the door on the Cougars.
John Grybowski picked up the win to improve to 2-2 after pitching five shutout innings, scattering three hits and striking out seven Cougars. Borgmann's final line had two hits with a walk over two innings, allowing the lone run on the homer while striking out four to grab his second save.
Cam Trego and Garrett Quinn joined Tyler Pirrung in going 2-3, with one of Trego's hits going for two bases. Justin Hernandez and Kyle Lowman also had a hit each in the victory.
UP NEXT:
The Wildcats will wrap up their series with the Cougars tomorrow, as they head to northern New Jersey for Game 3 of the set. First pitch is slated for 12:00 pm.