NEW CASTLE, Del. - - The Wilmington University baseball team won an important matchup for regional play, as the Wildcats win their final non-conference matchup over Queens College Wednesday afternoon, 16-4, at Wilson Field.
Queens is ranked No. 7 in the latest NCBWA East Regional Poll while the Wildcats are receiving votes this week. The Knights were also mentioned for consideration as the first official NCAA Regional Rankings came out this afternoon.
The Queens College Knights had a four-hit first inning that scored two runs as they took an early lead.
The Wildcats would fight back at the bottom of the second. JJ Killen earned a walk and found himself at third base on a pair of wild pitches. CJ Deery stepped up and delivered the first Wildcat hit of the day, scoring Killen. CJ Deery then moved to third, and Adrian Jimenez at second base, as Nick Classi delivered a sacrifice bunt to score Deery. Erik Grady stepped up to the plate with Jimenez on third and delivered an RBI hit to put the 'Cats up 3-2 after two innings.
Jack McDonald opened the bottom of the third with a leadoff double down the right field line. McDonald moved to third, and Eddie Parry hit McDonald home for the fourth run. The Wildcats had two runners on, and CJ Deery hit his second home run on the season, who just snuck the ball to the right of the foul down the left field line.
The Wildcats loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the fourth inning. First, Eddie Parry earned an RBI with the walk. Then, Shawn Haut sacrificed and flew to left field, scoring one run. CJ Deery then picked up another RBI with a double to left center. Through four, the Wildcats led 11-2.
With two outs in the top of the fifth, there was a thunderstorm for about an hour, which pulled starter Warrington after 4.2 innings. Warrington had recorded five strikeouts.
Resuming play, Erik Grady stepped up to the plate and hit his first home run of the season to right field. Grady's homerun with the only run in the inning for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats had runners on the corner at the bottom of the seventh. Erik Grady picked up another RBI with a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Adrain Jimenez. Shawn Edevane ended the game with a three-run home run to left-center field as the Wildcats topped the Knights 16-4.
The winning pitcher was Tyler Brown, who improved to 3-1 with 1.1 innings pitched and one strikeout.
The Wildcats round out their final doubleheader of the regular season with a road trip to the Dominican University on Sunday, April 30, starting at 11:30 AM.