STAUNTON, VA - The 12th ranked NC Wesleyan College Baseball romped to a 16-1 win in 7 innings on Friday afternoon in the first game of the conference DH with Mary Baldwin University.
Wesleyan jumped out to a quick 8-0 led after the first inning thanks to 3 run-scoring hits and 6 errors/passed balls from MBU. Leading off the scoring was freshman LF Zach Scott with an RBI single that drove in fellow freshman, 3B Tyson Bass, who had singled while freshman 1B Jackson Hobbs roped an RBI double. Junior DH Jackson Murray also hit an RBI single in the big inning.
Junior SS Nate Hibbs' 2nd inning two-run homer then made it 10-0 before Bass' RBI double made it 12-0 after two. Sophomore CF Drifton Padgett drove in 3 runs on fielder's choices and groundouts throughout the game as well. A sacrifice fly from 2B Davie Morgan in the 4th made it 13-0 before senior RF Alec Titmus' two-run triple in the 6th made it 15-1.
Six Different Bishops had multi-hit games including three-hit games from Scott and Hibbs while Hibbs fell just a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. Bass, senior Brad Pennington, Hobbs, and and Murray also all registered two-hit games while 8 of the 9 Bishop starters recorded at least one hit and one RBI in the win.
Pitching-wise, redshirt freshman starter CJ DiBenedetto got the win improving to 5-1 as he threw 5 innings allowing just one run on 3 hits with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. Junior reliever Drew Tubb then finished the game throwing two scoreless innings allowing just two hits while walking two and striking out six batters.
Game 2: NCWC 9, MBU 5
Senior Pitcher Kevin Williams led the Bishops to a game two win by dominating the Squirrels over 7 innings allowing just 2 runs on 4 hits with 10 strikeouts improving to 5-2.
Another leadoff home run by Bass then gave the Bishops the early lead before Murray made it 2-0 with his RBI double. After MBU tied it in the first, Wesleyan came back in the 4th with an RBI double from Titmus that drove in Hibbs before Titmus eventually scored on an error. Another RBI error in the 5th was then followed by RBI singles from Hobbs in the 6th and Padgett in the 7th made it 7-2. Pennington also doubled in Bass in the 9th for the final Bishop run.
After MBU scored three runs in the 8th off reliever Alex Crosby, fellow reliever junior Zach Woolard then shut down the Squirrels over the final innings recording 3 strikeouts to pick up the save.
Five Bishops recorded multiple hits in the win as they helped Wesleyan improve to 29-6 overall and 17-1 in the conference while MBU falls to 1-20 overall.
Wesleyan will now ready to host the East Division Championship Series next week from May 8-9. They will play games 1 and 2 vs. William Peace beginning at Noon on Saturday and the "if necessary" game three wil be Sunday at 2 PM.