Baseball seizes Opening Games against Wilberforce
CINCINNATI - The defending regular season conference champion Wiley University baseball team took an early lead and didn't look back in a 9-0 Game 1 victory. In Game 2, it bounced back from an early deficit to claim a decisive 22-8 win over Wilberforce University on Friday at Gendell Family Field.
The Wildcats (21-12, 13-4 HBCUAC) won their fifth Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference Series. They record their second shutout and fifth game with 20 or more runs.
Three home runs put Wiley ahead in the first game. Amir Mason hit his first in the first inning. Jhan Carlos Javier launched his fifth of the season in the second and also contributed a run-batted-in single in the seventh. Ryan Ready hit his third in the fifth to give the Wildcats a 5-0 lead. He also had a two-run single in the third. Wiley outhit Wilberforce 13-6.
Jalen Porter was masterful, picking up his fourth win of the season. He held the Bulldogs to six hits and struck out a career-high 12 batters in 6 1/3 innings. It's the second time Porter has recorded double-digit strikeouts with his first occurring during the 2023 season. Sammuel Urena recorded the final two outs.
Wiley struck first in the second game when Ajari Camp led off with his first career home run. Isaac Burciaga could not contain Wilberforce. Its first five batters reached with two hitting home runs, putting Wiley in a 5-1 deficit. Juan Pena took over and got the final two outs.
The Wildcats answered. Julian Rosales walked with one out in the third. Laker McPherson sparked a rally with a two-run home run for the first in his career. Camp was hit by a pitch, and Mason hit a single. They executed a double steal, with Camp running home and cutting the lead to one. After allowing a leadoff single, Pena retired the next three hitters to hold Wilberforce scoreless in the second.
Ivan Del Villar hit his ninth home run of the season to tie the game. With two outs in the fourth, Brendan Mendoza singled. His courtesy runner Sental Washington stole second and scored when McPherson reached on an error, giving Wiley its first lead. Wilberforce retook the lead on a single and a home run.
Wiley took the lead back when Jaziel Martinez led off the fourth with a walk and Del Villar hit his second home run to give Wiley an 8-7 lead. A leadoff double and a pair of sacrifices allowed Wilberforce to tie the game.
In the fifth inning, the Wildcats benefited from Wilberforce's pitchers' struggles with command of the strike zone. McPherson, Camp and Mason singled to load the bases. Martinez brought home the go-ahead run with a walk, the first of six. Mendoza and Camp were hit by pitches with the bases loaded. Wiley sent 15 batters to the plate and scored 11 runs. It took three Wilberforce pitchers to get out of the inning.
Camp went 4-for-4 with four runs and three RBI. McPherson went 3-for-4 with four runs and four RBI. Del Villar went 2-for-4 with three runs and three RBI. Kai Woodard went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.
Guillory earned his fifth victory, tossing three innings in relief. He only allowed one run on four hits. Jose Munoz Jr. made his debut and held Wilberforce scoreless in the seventh.
The series concludes at noon Central Standard Time tomorrow.
For more coverage on the Wildcats visit https://wileyathletics.com/sports/bsb/index
About Wiley University Athletics
Wiley University sponsors 12 varsity sports: women's volleyball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's and women's outdoor track and field and baseball. It competes in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) and the Continental Athletic Conference for men's and women's soccer.
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