Baseball overpowers Rust in HBCUAC Quarterfinals
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. - The No. 2 seed Wiley University baseball team took the lead in the second and didn't look back in a 10-4 victory over No. 7 seed Rust College in the quarterfinals of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Hope Credit Union 2025 Baseball Championship Thursday at CHI St. Vincent Field at Dickey Stephens Park.
The Wildcats (33-15) advance to the semifinals and will face No. 6 Southern University at New Orleans at 8:30 a.m. Friday. The winner will face Talladega/Dillard in the winner's bracket final at 7 p.m.
The game was originally scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday but was postponed due to rain. Playing over 14 hours later did not phase the Wildcats. Trailing 1-0 in the second, Jhan Carlos Javier drew a walk with one out. Smauri Abram followed with a single through the left side. Jaziel Martinez got the Wildcats on the board with a single to left. Abram gave Wiley the lead, scoring on a passed ball. Amir Mason was hit by pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Ryan Clark, who courtesy ran for Martinez. Jacob Perez extended the lead to 4-1 with a sacrifice fly to center.
Rust (22-28) cut the lead to one with a two-run home run by Shamaar Stapleton with two outs in the third. The Wildcats answered. Ivan Del Villar led off being hit by a pitch. Javier followed with a single to left. Martinez hit a double down the line for his second RBI. Amir Mason brought home Javier and Clark with a single through the right side.
Martinez drove home his third run in the fifth with a single. He went 3-for-4 with three RBI. Ryan Ready drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth. Abel Rodriguez Jr. scored on a wild pitch in the seventh. Mason went 2-for-4 with a run and three RBI. Javier went 2-for-3 and scored three runs.
Nick Rodriguez started and after allowing four runs on six hits in the first four innings, he only allowed two hits in the next four. He struck out four batters en route to his eighth win. Ethan Jones threw a scoreless ninth inning.
The Wildcats swept SUNO at Coker Field, outscoring the Knights 30-16.
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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