Wilmington, Illinois College
split Ft. Myers doubleheader

George gets third save in three days

[Game 1 Box Score]

[Game 2 Box Score]

March 14, 2006

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Ronnie Campbell (Lynchburg/Lynchburg-Clay) pitched five innings of three-hit baseball to lead Wilmington College past Illinois College, 10-4, in the first game of a Spring Break doubleheader Tuesday. Illinois College earned a split with a 9-6 win in game two. Wilmington is now 3-2.

"Ronnie has a history of being wild, and I thought we're going to see what he's made of," WC head coach Tony Haley said. "He gave up a run in the first inning and the second inning was ugly. He missed a pitch-out sign when we knew there was going to be a squeeze. He was a nervous wreck, but he settled down and pitched a whale of a game. I was really impressed with Ronnie today."

Jamison George

Campbell left the game trailing 4-3, but was placed in position to get the win thanks to a four-run Wilmington sixth inning that put the Quakers up 7-4.

For a third straight day, Wilmington ace Jamison George (Mount Sterling/Miami Trace) pitched in relief, and for the third straight day, picked up a save. George pitched two scoreless innings and struck out five.

The Wilmington bats gave George some cushion with three runs in the top of the seventh. Five Quakers — Taylor Clark (Morrow/McCallie, Tenn.), Greg Krieger (Bellefontaine), Ben Butler (Beavercreek/Carroll), Matt Morris (Hamilton) and Tom Harter (Westlake) — had two hits each. Clark and Krieger, who hit 1-2 in the WC lineup, have been terrorizing pitchers since their arrival in Florida.

"Taylor is a defensive back in football; he can really, really run," Haley said. "He sets the tone for us. When he gets on, we know he's going to second. He hasn't been thrown out yet. And Greg is just absolutely on fire."

In the second game, defensive miscues and bloop hits helped put Wilmington in an 8-1 hole after four innings. In the fifth, the Quakers unleashed another big inning, scoring five runs to cut the deficit to 8-6, but WC did not dent the plate again.

"Our defense is letting us down," Haley said. "We're booting the ball around way too much. It's good to know that we can score four or five any inning, but we're not putting it together. We can't go three or four without scoring and then score five unless we play good defense."

The game was Wilmington's fourth in less than 24 hours, which forced Haley to a pitcher-by-committee approach. Scott Ensell, Brody Burson, Nick Borgmann and George pitched for the Quakers. Ensell took the loss.

Krieger drove in two runs with a pair of doubles and Butler had two hits in three at-bats.