WINTER HAVEN, Fla.-- The West Virginia Wesleyan (0-2) baseball team kicked off their season on Saturday (Mar. 5) with a doubleheader against the Findlay Oilers (4-10). WVWC dropped both games, losing the first 11-3 and the second 4-2.
Game One
The Bobcats used timely hitting to get on the board first. After a
Geovani Sostre hard liner doubled up a pair of Bobcats,
Adrian Delgado started a two-out rally by hitting a single up the middle.
Devin Johnson followed suit, hitting a single of his own to the left side. After Johnson advanced to second on the throw,
Noah Birthisel stepped up to the plate with runners on second and third and delivered a two rbi single to right to give the 'Cats the 2-0 advantage.
Walks and timely hitting plagued the Bobcat defense as the Oilers plated four runs in consecutive innings to start the game. WVWC found themselves trailing 8-2 after just two innings.
Eli Brogan would make his first collegiate appearance after replacing starter
Alec Tamburri in the second. Brogan retired six consecutive Oilers in 2.2 innings of scoreless relief in his collegiate debut.
In the fourth,
Leo White led the inning off with a single to left,
Hunter Eplin followed him up with a double to left-center, but the Bobcats could not push any across in the inning.
WVWC found themselves with a runner in scoring position in the fifth when Ingram reach third on an errant throw after a gorgeous bunt single. The Bobcats would take advantage after Sostre roped a double to left to score Ingram.
Robbie Baker tossed a scoreless inning of relief in the 6th, but the Bobcats couldn't come up with anything else and dropped game one 11-3.
Game Two
WVWC got on the board first again in game two. Ingram swiped second after his lead-off single, and two batters later crossed the plate on a Johnson double to right-field. The Oilers would score an unearned run off starting pitcher
Anthony Napoleon in the second, but Napoleon would minimize the damage.
The Bobcats got the bats going with two outs in the fourth as
Nick Corwell singled to left. The Bobcats had runners on the corners after a
Leo White single to left-center but could scratch one across.
The Oilers got to Napoleon in the fifth as they chased him out of the game and pushed three runs across to take a 4-1 lead. Napoleon was credited with the loss in game two, but the crafty lefty showed poise on the hill in his 4.1 innings of work.
Luke White and
Brad Miller stifled the Oiler offense the rest of the way, throwing 2.2 innings of scoreless relief.
WVWC had the bases loaded with nobody out after
Martin Radosevic single through the right side to start the inning. Corwell and
Leo White both walked to fill up the base paths. After the Oiler reliever sent back-to-back Bobcats down on strikes,
Dylan Poplin singled to the shortstop to push across the Orange & Blacks second run.
The Bobcats threatened in the bottom of the seventh but did not score.
Up Next
The 'Cats take on Lewis in a single nine-inning game on Sunday (Mar.6). First pitch is set for 10:15.
