Baseball falls to No. 6 SUNO, bounces back against No. 8 Wilberforce
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The No. 2 seed Wiley University baseball team struggled to hit in a 9-3 loss to No. 6 seed Southern University at New Orleans in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) Hope Credit Union Baseball Championship semifinals but bounced back in the second round of the loser's bracket with a 13-3 victory over No. 8 seed Wilberforce University Friday at CHI St. Vincent Field at Dickey-Stephens Park.
The Wildcats (34-16) will face No. 3 seed Stillman College in the loser's bracket semifinal at 3 p.m. Saturday. The winner will face the loser of No. 1 Talladega and No. 6 SUNO at 6 p.m. for a spot in the championship game against the winner.
The game was delayed due to rain and lightning for four hours and 15 minutes in the top of the fourth inning. Wiley was held to seven hits against Southern University at New Orleans with four coming in the ninth inning. It could not capitalize on a masterful pitching performance by Jalen Porter, who struck out 11 batters in 7 1/3 innings. He held the Knights to two runs in the first six innings.
The Wildcats fell behind after giving up two runs on two hits in the fourth inning. After allowing a run in the seventh, they had an opportunity to get back into the game - loading the bases with no one out. A double-play and flyout ended the threat. The Knights took advantage of Porter, who was tired from throwing over 130 pitches as it scored six runs on four hits.
Wiley got on the board in the ninth. Jacob Perez led off with a single. Ivan Del Villar followed with a single. Jhan Carlos Javier hit an infield to second and advanced on an error, which scored Perez. Smauri Abram brought home Del Villar with a ground ball to short. Anthony Castaneda hit an RBI single to score Javier.
Against Wilberforce, the Wildcats scored two runs without a hit. Amir Mason walked with one out in the first, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher. He scored on Jacob Perez' groundball to short. In the third, Ajari Camp reached on a fielder's choice, stole second and third and scored on a throwing error.
Wilberforce (16-32) tied the game in the fifth with two hits and an error. In the sixth inning, Ryan Ready reached on an error and Jhan Carlos Javier reached on catcher's interference. With two outs, Brendan Mendoza singled up the middle to score Ready and Javier, giving the Wildcats a 4-2 lead. Camp extended the lead with an RBI single. Mason singled and advanced on a throwing error, which scored Abel Rodriguez and Camp.
Wiley put the game away in the seventh inning. Javier hit a two-run home run over the left field wall for his sixth of the season. Mason ended the game with a two-run shot over the Wildcats bullpen. He drove in three runs with two hits and scored two runs. Camp recorded two RBI singles and scored three runs.
Ethan Jones started and limited the Bulldogs to two runs, with one earned on four hits and struck out six in five innings. Isaac Burciaga earned his seventh win, pitching the last two innings.
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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