PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- The Baldwin Wallace University baseball team was defeated today, 11-9, by Division I South Dakota State University at the annual SnowBird Classic in Port Charlotte, Florida. The Yellow Jackets, 4-4 overall, carry a 2-2 record with four games left to play on their trip.
Baldwin Wallace led the game by two runs after the top of the first inning but was never able to regain the lead over the Jackrabbits.
The Yellow Jacket offense had one of its best hitting games of the season with nine runs batted in on 13 hits and six walks. At the plate, BW was led by sophomore designated hitter Hunter Handel (Akron/Green) who went 1-for-3 with a home run in the fifth inning that drove in junior right-fielder Alex Green (Pickerington/North) from second base. Green batted 2-for-5 on the day with two singles, a run and a run batted in. Also for the Yellow Jackets, senior CAPITAL ONE Academic All-America third baseman Brad Gugliotta (Twinsburg) went 2-for-4 with three runs and a walk, while junior All-Ohio Athletic Conference first baseman Kyle Chontos (Pickerington/North) went 2-for-5 with two runs batted in.
On the mound, senior left-hander Cory Durbin (Canton/GlenOak) started for BW, provided three innings of work, and allowed seven runs on five earned. In relief for Durbin, junior right-hander Anthony Alioto (Mayfield Heights/Mayfield) pitched one and two-thirds innings and gave up four runs on three earned. After Alioto, four Yellow Jackets pitchers combined to shut out the Jackrabbits in the final three and one-thirds innings without giving up any hits on one strikeout and no walks.
After a day off tomorrow, BW is back in action on Friday, March 14 when they play a doubleheader against Nichols (Mass.) College with the first pitch of the first game coming at 12:00 p.m. Fans can watch all of the action weather permitting via live stats at http://livestats.prestosports.com/baldwinwallace/. To obtain more information on the SnowBird Classic, please visit http://snowbirdbaseball.info.
FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.BWYellowJackets.com and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.
