By: Amanda Phillips
BEREA, Ohio- The Baldwin Wallace University baseball team finished out their home-and-home series with John Carroll University on Sunday afternoon, splitting games with the Blue Streaks. Led by a pair of homeruns from junior first baseman Alexis Castillo (Sunrise, Fla. /The Sagemont School), the Yellow Jackets took game one by a score of 12-4 over the Blue Streaks. Although hard-fought, JCU took game two by a score of 10-7 to move to 3-1 on the season while Baldwin Wallace falls to 1-3 in their first weekend back at Fisher Field.
In game one, the Jackets got off to a hot start bringing in six runs off four hits in the first inning, including a 3RBI homer to right field from Castillo. Up 6-1 after one inning, BW continued their aggressive offense tallying another three runs midway through the game. Castillo hit a two-run homer to close the scoring in the bottom of the eighth.
On the mound, right hander Drew Wilson (Sagamore Hills/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy) pitched for six innings and recorded six strikeouts to earn his first win of the season. Junior right-hander Maxwell Cebulak (Oakmont, Pa./Pittsburgh Central Catholic) entered the game in the seventh and eighth innings, allowing only one run and tallying three strikeouts. Closing out the game for the Jackets, Drew Schaly (Ashland/) held the Blue Streaks scoreless while allowing one walk and pitching one strikeout as the Yellow Jackets took down JCU 12-4.
BW earned the first run of game two as Castillo had an RBI single to drive in senior Jacob Bonner (Akron/Archbishop Hoban) to put BW up 1-0. Neither team scored again until the top of the fourth inning when John Carroll posted a pair of hits and a pair of runs to gain the 2-1 advantage over BW. Fighting back in the fifth, senior All-OAC short stop Alex Ludwick (Brunswick) homered to bring both himself and senior second baseman Tony LoParo (Avon/Elyria Catholic) home, moving the score to 3-2 ahead of JCU.
The Yellow Jackets struggled to maintain their offensive momentum as the Blue Streaks scored three runs on two hits over the next two innings to regain their lead. Senior All-OAC outfielder Dudley Taw (Sheffield Lake/Brookside) homered to right center in the bottom of the seventh inning to close the score gap to 5-4, JCU still ahead. With John Carroll scoring five runs in the final inning, BW looked to their offense, creating three runs on three hits in the bottom of the ninth inning but came up short, dropping their second game 10-7 to John Carroll.
Leading the pitching staff for BW in the second game for was freshman righty Kyle Maruna (Medina) who pitched just over five innings tallying four strikeouts and five walks. Coming in for relief were sophomore left hander Nik Baldis (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) and freshman righty Gordon Seger (Rome/Grand Valley) who combined for two strikeouts and allowed eight hits.
The Yellow Jackets take the diamond again next weekend on Saturday, March 20 at home for an OAC doubleheader against Wilmington College. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. with the second game scheduled for 4 p.m.
