BEREA, Ohio -- The Baldwin Wallace University baseball team, listed among the "others receiving votes" in this week's Division III national poll, scored 41 runs and swept an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader with OAC foe Wilmington College at Heritage Field. The Yellow Jackets won the first game, 25-3, and the captured won the nightcap, 16-0.
BW is 17-10 overall and 6-4 in the OAC and have won three straight games and seven of their last nine. Wilmington is 2-20 overall and 1-9 in the OAC.
In the first game, Wilmington grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first with a leadoff homerun before the Yellow Jackets scored one in the second, two in the third and two more in the fourth to take a 5-1 lead. After the Quakers closed the deficit to 5-3 with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth, but BW broke open the contest by scoring seven runs in the bottom of the frame and six more in the sixth to take a commanding 18-3 lead. The Jackets closed out the scoring with three more in the seventh and four in the eighth.
At the plate for BW, sophomore designated hitter Hunter Handel (Akron/ Green) was a pefrect 4-for-4 with two runs scored, a pair of triples and a game and career-high five runs batted-in (RBI). In addition, junior shortstop Eric Murphy (Brook Park/ Midpark) was 3-for-4 with two runs scored, an RBI and a stolen base, junior All-OAC first baseman Kyle Chontos (Pickerington/ North) was 3-for-4 with two runs scored, an RBI and a double, and junior All-OAC leftfielder Zach Ferster (Olmsted Falls) was 3-for-4 with three runs scored, two RBI and a steal. Also, junior catcher Anthony Eder (Cuyahoga Heights) came off the bench and was 2-for-2 with four RBI.
On the mound, sophomore righthander Alex Albright (North Royalton) started and pitched the first six innings, allowed five base hits, three runs (one earned), struck out a career-high nine Quakers and walked just one batter as he improved his record to 3-2 overall. Junior righty Luke Akerman (Sheffield Lake/ Brookside) pitched the next two innings, allowed two base hits, no runs, struck out one and walked one. Sophomore All-OAC 2B Mark Zimmerman (Akron/ Green), who was 2-for-5 with two runs scored, a double and RBI, pitched the ninth inning and allowed one base hit and whiffed a pair of Quakers.
In the second game, BW scored four times in the bottom of the first inning to lead 4-0. The Jackets added four more in the fourth, one in the fifth, four more in the sixth and three in the seventh to lead 16-0
At the plate for BW, Zimmerman and Handel led the way. Zimmerman was 3-for-4 with two runs scored, a triple and two RBI. Handel was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and ended the twinbill 7-for-8 overall. In addition, Murphy was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, a double, triple and two RBI.
On the mound, junior righthander Cory Waite (Willoughby/ South), this week's OAC Pitcher of the Week, pitched the first six innings, allowed three hits, no runs, struck out five Quakers and walked two as he improved to 4-0 overall. In his last three starts, Waite has beaten 11th-ranked Marietta College (2-1), Otterbein University (3-0) and Wilmington. He has pitched 22 innings, allowed just seven base hits, one unearned run and struck out nine.
Waite was replaced by sophomore Tom Loeffler (Shaker Heights), who pitched a scoreless seventh; senior Dylan Fodor (Twinsburg), who pitched a scoreless eighth; and freshman Logan Heffernan (Lebanon), who tossed a scoreless ninth inning.
BW is back in action on at Tuesday, April 15 when they travel to Ada, Ohio to play an OAC twinbill versus Ohio Northern University at 1:00 p.m. The next home games are on Friday, April 18 when the Yellow Jackets host the University of Mount Union in an OAC doublehedaer at Heritage Field at 1:00 p.m.
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.