WILSON, N.C. — The West Virginia Wesleyan College baseball team capped a challenging four-game weekend at the Tobs Classic with a hard-earned 3-2 victory over Georgian Court on Sunday morning after facing Clarion and St. Thomas Aquinas in a busy Friday-Saturday stretch.
The Bobcats opened the weekend Friday evening against Clarion, returned Saturday for a morning matchup with St. Thomas Aquinas and an afternoon rematch with Clarion, and closed the tournament Sunday with a one-run win over Georgian Court.
 
 
Friday, Feb. 27
Clarion 4, West Virginia Wesleyan 1
 
Wesleyan struck first but could not hold off a late Clarion surge in the tournament opener.
 
After two scoreless innings, Malik Wood ignited the third with a double to center and later scored on a Clarion throwing error to give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead. Jamison Smith added a single in the inning as Wesleyan manufactured early pressure.
 
Clarion responded immediately in the bottom half when Eduardo Zayas launched a solo home run to center to tie the contest at 1-1. The game remained knotted through six innings as the Bobcat pitching staff kept the Golden Eagles in check.
 
Drew Evans worked two scoreless innings to open the game, and Drake Long kept things even into the seventh. However, Clarion broke through in the bottom of the seventh with a two-out rally. A pair of baserunners set the stage for Randy Carlo, who delivered a two-run double to center to give Clarion a 3-1 advantage. An eighth-inning RBI single added insurance.
 
Wesleyan collected seven hits in the contest, including doubles from Wood and Dylan Neach, but stranded seven runners and struck out 16 times in the loss.
 
 
Saturday, Feb. 28 (Game 1)
St. Thomas Aquinas 16, West Virginia Wesleyan 9
 
The Bobcats came out swinging in Saturday morning's matchup, plating four runs in the top of the first inning.
 
Coleman Cross walked to begin the game, and Grant Shumaker followed with a single before Drew Jrolf delivered the biggest swing of the morning — a towering three-run home run to left-center that highlighted a four-run frame and gave Wesleyan an early 4-0 lead.
 
St. Thomas Aquinas answered quickly, capitalizing on defensive miscues and unleashing a power barrage. The Spartans hit six home runs in the contest, including back-to-back blasts in the second inning to seize control. A four-run third inning stretched the lead to 10-4.
 
Wesleyan continued to battle. In the fourth, Jrolf added an RBI groundout, and Dylan Neach's RBI double in the fifth trimmed the deficit to 13-6. Neach later homered in the seventh as part of a three-run rally that featured a Shumaker RBI double and a sacrifice fly from Matthew Neach, closing the gap to 13-9.
 
Despite the offensive effort — 12 hits including four from Dylan Neach and five RBIs from Jrolf — St. Thomas Aquinas added late runs in the seventh and eighth to secure the win.
 
 
Saturday, Feb. 28 (Game 2)
Clarion 4, West Virginia Wesleyan 0
 
In the afternoon rematch, Wesleyan received a strong outing from Anthony Hernandez but struggled to push runs across.
 
Clarion scratched across a run in the third on a double-play ball that plated a runner from third. The Golden Eagles broke things open in the sixth when Cesar Lopez tripled to right field, driving in two runs, and later scored on a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 4-0.
 
Hernandez worked 7.2 innings, allowing four runs while striking out seven, keeping the Bobcats within striking distance throughout.
 
Wesleyan managed six hits, including two from Coleman Cross and a ninth-inning double from Carter Collins, but could not string together the timely hit needed to break through. Clarion pitchers combined to limit Wesleyan to two walks and worked out of several jams to complete the shutout.
 
 
Sunday, March 1
West Virginia Wesleyan 3, Georgian Court 2
 
The Bobcats closed the weekend on a high note with a gritty 3-2 victory over Georgian Court.
 
After two scoreless innings, Adrian Amezquita provided the spark with a solo home run to left field in the third, giving Wesleyan a 1-0 advantage.
 
The Bobcats added to the lead in the sixth. Coleman Cross singled and advanced on a sacrifice bunt before Alex Smith delivered an RBI single to left, extending the margin to 2-0.
 
Georgian Court answered in the bottom half of the sixth, using a single and aggressive baserunning to cut the deficit to 2-1. Wesleyan regained a two-run cushion in the eighth when Cross reached on an error and later scored on a Gavin Smith RBI single.
 
The Lions made things interesting in the bottom of the eighth with a solo home run, trimming the lead to 3-2, but Bryson Peffer shut the door. After starter Liam Sharer tossed six innings, allowing one run with seven strikeouts, Peffer worked the final three frames to earn the save, striking out six and stranding the tying run in the ninth.
 
Wesleyan's pitching staff combined for 13 strikeouts in the win, and the defense turned a key double play to help secure the victory.
 
Weekend Notes

• Wesleyan totaled 30 hits across four games.
• Drew Jrolf and Dylan Neach each homered during the tournament, while Adrian Amezquita delivered the decisive long ball Sunday.
• The Bobcats' pitching staff struck out 36 batters over the four-game slate.
• Sunday's victory marked Wesleyan's first win of the young season and a positive finish to a demanding weekend schedule.

 
Wesleyan will look to build momentum from Sunday's performance as the Bobcats continue their early-season road swing through Winter Haven, Florida beginning with Rockhurst University on March 3 at 9:30 a.m.