Press Release Written by Nathan Foltz
NEW CASTLE, Del. - - After falling 16-6 in Game 1, Dylan Potero carried the Wilmington University baseball team to a 4-0 shutout in Game 2 over Post in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference showdown on Saturday at Wilson Field.
The Wildcat bullpen gave up 11 runs in two innings after Xavier Cortez departed from Game 1, which included a 10-run eighth inning to catapult the Eagles to a run-rule victory. Potero was the sorely needed stopgap in the nightcap, though, shutting the Post offense down with a complete game shutout in the seven-inning contest.
GAME 1:
Wilmington jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, thanks to a first-inning RBI single by Chase Fleming, an ensuing sac fly off the bat of Brett Walmsley, and another by Cam Trego in the second.
After going six up six down to start the game, Xavier Cortez ran into trouble in the top of the third, giving up a one-out double and single. The first Eagle run of the game then came across on a sac fly error with Cam Trego dropping a fly ball in left, but a back pick caught the lead runner off second, and a strikeout ended the frame.
Wilmington's offense struggled after the second, mustering just three singles in the five innings afterwards. Cortez retired another six in a row after the bumpy third, but issued two walks and a single to start the sixth and then gave up a one-out grand slam to Manny Contreras, giving the Eagles their first lead of the game at 5-3.
After an RBI groundout in the top of the seventh brought in an unearned run to make it 6-3, Post crushed the Wilmington bullpen in the eighth, scoring ten runs on seven hits, two walks, and a hit by pitch. The Wildcats burned through four pitchers in the inning, as Post created a deficit too large to match.
A two-out, three-run homer to right center by Tyler Pirrung made it 16-6 in the bottom of the inning, but Cam Trego popped out to end the game with the ten-run rule in effect.
Chase Fleming was the only Wildcat with multiple hits in the contest, going 2-4 with an RBI. Tyler Pirrung drove in three, as he passed Trego and Fleming for the team lead with 33 on the year.
Xavier Cortez covered the first six innings of the game but took the loss, allowing five runs on six hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.
GAME 2:
A pair of two-run homers was all the offense Wilmington needed in Game 2, as Dylan Potero shone on the hill. Potero threw all seven innings, allowing just three hits, a hit by pitch, and a seventh-inning walk while punching out a career-high 11 Eagles.
As they did in the first game, the Wildcats took a first-inning 2-0 lead, though this time it was in more dramatic fashion. Chase Fleming reached with two outs on a throwing error by the third baseman, and then MJ Phillips made Post pay for the mistake with a two-run blast to right center.
After leaving three runners on in the second and third innings combined, Kyle Lowman singled down the third base line to lead off the fourth and then was brought home on a bomb to right field off the bat of Brian Klumpp, making it 4-0 Wilmington.
The Wildcats didn't pick up another hit in the ballgame, but they didn't need to, as their freshman pitcher allowed only three Eagles to reach second base in the contest. All three ended up stranded there by the time the inning ended.
Klumpp and Phillips had the RBIs, while Lowman went 2-3 with a pair of singles. Tyler Pirrung and Garrett Quinn each had a hit apiece as well, with Pirrung also reaching on a walk.
UP NEXT:
The Wildcats will wrap up their three-game series with Post on Sunday in Connecticut. The rubber match is set to begin at 3:30 p.m. in Waterbury.
