WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — West Virginia Wesleyan baseball continued its spring break stretch in Central Florida with a pair of competitive outings at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational, falling 3–2 to Concordia–St. Paul before battling in an 11–5 setback to Jamestown. The Bobcats (1–10) flashed plenty of offensive life, collecting 16 total hits across the two games, but key late-inning moments proved decisive.
Concordia–St. Paul 3, West Virginia Wesleyan 2
Wesleyan's opener at Chain of Lakes Park evolved into a tight pitching duel, with the Bobcats nearly engineering a late comeback after trailing most of the afternoon.
Concordia–St. Paul opened the scoring immediately, using a one-out triple from Gus Berger followed by a Charlie Harms RBI single to take a 1–0 edge in the first. Starting pitcher
Drake Long settled in after the first-inning traffic, producing three straight scoreless frames and retiring the side in order in the third.
Long was steady throughout his 6.0 innings, scattering seven hits while striking out two and allowing just three earned runs.
The Golden Bears extended their lead to 3–0 in the fifth, but the Bobcats broke through an inning later. A defensive miscue opened the door, and Wesleyan capitalized.
Grant Smith reached on an error then
Matthew Neach walked in a pinch-hit appearance.
Isaac Lough followed with another walk to load the bases.
A fielder's-choice grounder by
Carter Collins brought home Smith for WVWC's first run, and
Adrian Amezquita then pushed across another on a fielder's choice, slicing the deficit to 3–2.
Reliever
Nolan Slaughter kept the game in reach with three strong innings, allowing just one hit and no runs while striking out two.
Wesleyan mounted one last push in the ninth when
Jamison Smith ripped a leadoff double to left and advanced to third on a sacrifice. A single from
Coleman Cross put the winning run on base, and pinch-runner
Dylan Neach immediately stole second to set up a dramatic finish. However, CSP closer Liam Bystol induced a pop-up and flyout to strand the tying and winning runs aboard.
Game 2: Jamestown 11, West Virginia Wesleyan 5
The Bobcats responded in the second game with a productive offensive inning, plating four runs in the third and finishing with 14 hits—a season high. But a decisive Jamestown rally in the seventh ultimately tilted the game.
Jamestown manufactured runs in each of the first two innings, taking a 3–0 advantage through two via a combination of stolen bases, walks, and a sacrifice fly. Wesleyan starter Andrew Napoleon weathered the early pressure and went on to deliver six effective innings, striking out four and allowing just four hits.
The Bobcats roared to life in the third, sending eight men to the plate and collecting six hits.
Alex Smith led off with a double to ignite the rally.
Ronny Dinzey and
Malik Wood followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases.
Coleman Cross delivered a two-RBI single to right, tying the game 2–2.
Grant Shumaker added an RBI single. And
Matthew Neach capped the surge with an RBI base hit to center, pushing Wesleyan ahead 4–3.
Cross, who finished 3-for-5, added a stolen base in the frame as the Bobcats seized momentum.
The Bobcats extended their lead to 5–3 in the fourth when Smith singled and later scored on a well-executed sacrifice bunt by Wood.
Napoleon protected the lead through six, allowing only two baserunners across the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings.
The game flipped dramatically in the bottom of the seventh. After Napoleon exited for reliever
Adiel Rivera, Jamestown strung together five hits, forcing two hit-by-pitches and capitalizing on a defensive error to plate eight runs. The inning was highlighted by an inside-the-park three-run homer from Jacob Thomas, turning a 5–3 Bobcat lead into an 11–5 Jamestown advantage and eventual win.
