The Wilmington University baseball opened the 2019 season with a 19-3 win against the Molloy College Lions and a 7-5 win against the New Haven Chargers at Myrtle Beach South Carolina.
Game 1 ( 19-3 Win Vs Molloy College)
In the early game against Molloy College, Wilmington’s bats were hot with 19 runs going on the scoreboard.
As runs batted in ( RBIs) goes, there were three Wilmington hitters who hit three RBIs in the game and they were redshirt junior Julian Kurych, senior outfielder Luke Johnson and senior catcher Frank Nigro.
Wilmington had six other players with RBIs and they were senior first baseman Kendall Small (1), redshirt junior third baseman Eddie Nevins (2), redshirt sophomore third baseman Brett Nowell, redshirt junior DH Brooks Ryan (1), redshirt freshman first baseman Brock Nowell and senior right fielder Dakota Graham (1).
Thirteen WilmU players had runs in the win and they were Kurych (2), second baseman sophomore Gage Walklett (1), Small (1), Nevins (2), Brett Nowell (1), Ryan (1), Brock Nowell (1), Johnson (2), redshirt sophomore pinch runner Joey Cautillo (1), redshirt junior shortstop Dan Hyatt (1), freshman shortstop Darren Donastorg (2), Graham (2) and senior Matt Stepnoski (2).
Eleven Wilmington hitters gained a hit in the win and they were Kurych (1), redshirt senior second baseman Max Carney (1), Walklett (1),Small (2),Nevins (2),Brett Nowell (1), Ryan (1), Johnson (2), Nigro (1), Hyatt (1) and Graham (2).
Brooks Ryan also recorded a stolen base in the game.
Eddie Nevins and Luke Johnson would also record a home runs in the blowout win.
As for the pitching, redshirt senior Brad Scull had a dominant game with six innings, four hits, two walks, 10 strikeouts and earned the win.
Redshirt senior pitcher Matt Frost came into relieve Scull and he went two innings, two runs and two earned runs.
Redshirt freshman Kyle Maxwell would finish up the game with one inning, one hit, one run, one earned run, two walks and one strikeout.
Scull had 73 strikes in 104 pitches, Frost had 16 strikes in 24 pitches and Maxwell had 13 strikes in 22 pitches on the mound.
Wilmington Starts The Scoring In 2nd & Continues It In The Third Inning
Both teams lineup were silent in the first inning but in second inning Wilmington’s bats would wake up.
The bottom of second inning started with Wilmington’s Eddie Nevins hitting a single to center field and he would advance to second base with a wild pitch.
The next play Brooks Ryan would hit a single to left field which would score Nevins to give Wildcats a 1-0 lead.
Ryan would steal second base and advanced to third base in the inning with Molloy throwing a wild pitch.
Frank Nigro would ground out on the next play but that would be enough for Ryan to score and increase WilmU’s lead to 2-0.
Wilmington’s offense had no signs of slowing down in the bottom of third where Dakota Graham opened the inning with a double down the infield line.
Graham would advanced to third base on Molloy’s third wild pitch of the game.
On the next play, Kendall Small would double to center to score Graham which would increase Wildcats lead to 3-0.
Then Nevins and Ryan would walk which now the bases were loaded and Molloy would throw their fourth wild pitch of the game. The wild pitch would score Small to increase Wilmington’s lead to 4-0.
Wilmington Scores A Combined 5 Runs in The Fourth & Fifth Inning
Just as the offense was off to a great start, Wilmington’s starting pitcher Brad Scull had the Lions confused at the batter box with the team staying silent on the scoreboard.
In the bottom of fourth inning, Dan Hyatt would start the inning off with a single to right field and he would advance to second base with Molloy’s fifth wild pitch of the game.
Dakota Graham would be the next batter up to the plate where he singled to center field and scored Hyatt to give their team a 5-0 lead.
Graham would advance to second base on the Lions sixth wild pitch of the game and Julian Kurych would get hit by a pitch to earn a base.
Max Carney would bunt to get on first base and advancing all the other Wildcats runners on base.
Kendall Small would ground in to a double play but that would be enough to score Graham to give their team a 6-0 lead.
Then in one swing, Eddie Nevins would give the Wildcats two runs as he hit a home run which scored Kurych and himself. The home run would give Wilmington a 8-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Luke Johnson knocked one out of the park as he hit a solo home run to increase WilmU’s lead to 9-0.
The sixth inning would be the last for Wilmington’s pitcher Brad Scull as he had a solid day with six innings, four hits, two walks, 10 strikeouts and earned the win.
Wilmington Scores 10 Runs In 8th Inning
Wilmington’s pitcher Matt Frost came into relieve Scull after the sixth inning and he went two innings, two runs and two earned runs.
In the top of the eighth inning, The Lions hitters finally showed some life as the team scored two runs in the inning.
The first run came from Thomas Brady who doubled to left center which scored Jake Saltzman which decreased WilmU’s lead to 9-1.
The second run of the inning for Molloy came from Matt Overton who grounded out to second base which scored Brady and decreased WilmU’s lead to 9-2.
The bottom of the eighth inning was explosion of runs for Wilmington’s offense which had been already pretty hot all game.
The first run of the inning came from Brett Nowell who singled to the shortstop and that would score Darren Donastorg to increase Wilmington’s lead to 10-2.
The next score came from Brock Nowell who walked and that would be enough for Matt Stepnoski to score which increased Wildcats lead to 11-2.
Luke Johnson would knock in two runs with a single to left field which Nowell and Gage Walklett represented to give their team a 13-2 lead.
Frank Nigro would knock two more runs in with Johnson and Nowell scoring which would give Wilmington a 15-2 lead.
Julian Kurych would really end the inning with a bang as he tripled to right field and that would score Stepnoski, Donastorg and Joey Cautillo to increase Wilmington’s lead to 18-2.
Kurych would then score on a passed ball and would score Wildcats 19th run of the game.
In the ninth inning, Kyle Maxwell would come in for Matt Frost and he would go one inning, one hit, one run, one earned run, two walks and one strikeout.
The Lions would score one run in the ninth as Michael Nacinovich would hit a double to score Robby Keane which decreased WilmU’s lead to 19-3.
WilmU would finish the game with a dominating 19-3 win.
Game 2 ( 7-5 Win Vs New Haven Chargers)
In the second game of the day, Wilmington batters still had a lot firepower as the team score seven runs in the game.
Three Wildcats had RBIs in the game and they were Kendall Small (1), Eddie Nevins (3) and Luke Johnson (2).
Five Wildcats had runs in the game and they were Julian Kurych (1), Max Carney (2), Small (2), Nevins (1) and Brooks Ryan (1).
Seven Wilmington players had hits in the game and they were Kurych (1), Carney (2), Nevins (1), Ryan (3), Johnson (2), Dan Hyatt (2) and Dakota Graham (1).
Eddie Nevins would hit his second home run of the day with a home run in the win against New Haven.
Dan Hyatt would steal three bases in the game against New Haven.
On the pitching side, redshirt senior Sean Deely had a solid game as he went five innings, three hits, three earned runs, three runs, four walks, seven strikeouts, one home run and earned the win.
Senior Justin Mears would close out the game as he went one inning, one strikeout and earned the save in the win.
Deely had a 51 strikes on 86 pitches and Mears had eight strikes on 10 pitches on the mound in the win.
Wilmington Scores Three Runs In First Inning
Wilmington did not waste any time getting the offense going as in the top of the first inning, Julian Kurych would hit a single to the right side. Then, Max Carney would single to right side which advanced Kurych to second base. Carney would advance to second and Kurych would advance to third base with a balk.
The next batter, Kendall Small would have a sacrifice fly as he flied out center field as Kurych scored that would give Wilmington a 1-0 lead.
Eddie Nevins would come up to bat and knock one out of the park as he homered which scored Carney and himself. The home run would give Wilmington a 3-0 lead in the first inning.
Wilmington Adds Another Run In Third Inning
In the top of the third inning, Wilmington would add another run as Eddie Nevins flied out to right field which was enough to score Max Carney to give their team a 4-0 lead.
New Haven Bats Wakes Up In Fourth Inning
Wilmington’s Sean Deely was rolling in the first three innings but in the fourth inning he hit a rough patch and give up his first run to New Haven.
New Haven would score their first run of the game by a wild pitch and that allowed Matt Chamberlain to score and decrease Wilmington’s lead 4-1.
Wilmington Scores a Run on Error In The Fifth Inning
In the top of the fifth inning, Kendall Small would score on error by the Chargers shortstop which gave his team a 5-1.
New Haven’s Chamberlain Homers In Sixth Inning
Sean Deely’s last inning would be the fifth as he went five innings, three hits, three earned runs, three runs, four walks, seven strikeouts, one home run and earned the win.
Before Deely exited the game he allowed a home run in the sixth from Matt Chamberlain which scored Noah Budzik and himself. The home run would decrease WilmU’s lead to 5-2 lead.
Noah Latshaw came into relieve Deely and he went one inning and two walks.
Johnson Adds Two More Runs For Wilmington In Seventh Inning
In the top of the seventh, Luke Johnson would double to center field which would score Brooks Ryan and Kendall Small to increase WilmU’s lead 7-2.
Redshirt sophomore Tyler Campbell would relieve Latshaw and he went one inning, three hits, two runs, one earned run and one strikeout.
Redshirt junior Rudy Gervolino came in for Campbell and he went zero innings and walked one batter.
New Haven Scores Two Runs On Wilmington’s Error In Eighth Inning
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Andrew Garcia and Matt Chamberlain scored on a throwing error from Wilmington’s third baseman which decreased WilmU’s lead to 7-5.
Wilmington’s redshirt senior Zach Frederick came in for Rudy Gervolino and pitched one inning.
In the ninth inning, Justin Mears came in to close out the game and went one inning, one strikeout and earned the save in the win. Mears closed the door on a 7-5 win for Wilmington.
Wilmington takes on St. Thomas Aquinas on February 23rd at 5:30pm ET in Myrtle Beach, S.C..
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