Quakers sweep Muskingum
in OAC doubleheader

WC wins on last-inning homers

[Game 1 Box Score]

[Game 2 Box Score]

April 8, 2006

Greg Krieger, Jimmy Wolverton

NEW CONCORD — Solid pitching and a pair of final-inning home runs added up to a pair of wins as Wilmington College swept an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader from Muskingum Saturday.

Wilmington took game one, 6-5, in nine innings, then won game two, 3-2. The Quakers are now 2-2 in the OAC, 8-7 overall. Muskingum drops to 1-3 in the conference, 13-9 overall.

"These wins are big. You can't fall down 1-3 and get yourself in a hole and try to sweep some doubleheaders real late in the season. This conference is too tough to try that," WC head coach Tony Haley said.

In the opener, Muskingum scored four runs in the first off WC starter Kenny Branscom (Chillicothe). The Quakers finally broke through with a five-run fourth inning capped by a two-run single from shortstop Greg Krieger (Bellefontaine).

The Muskies, who were silenced by Branscom after the first inning, got a run in the sixth to tie the game at 5-5. Wilmington catcher Ben Butler (Beavercreek/Carroll) broke the tie with a lead-off homer in the top of the ninth that proved to be the game-winner.

Jamison George (Mount Sterling/Miami Trace) pitched 3.1 innings of one-hit ball to earn his first win of the season.

Ben Buehner (Germantown/Valley View), Taylor Clark (Morrow/McCallie, Tenn.), Mike Kroeger (Cincinnati/Elder) and Jimmy Wolverton (London/Madison Plains) had two hits each for the Quakers, who totaled 13 in the opener.

Wilmington again played comeback ball in game two. Muskingum scored two runs off WC starter Clayton Reynolds (Blanchester) in the third inning.

The Quakers pulled to within 2-1 when Krieger scored on an error in the fourth inning. In the fifth, WC tied the game when Clark drove Wolverton home with a single.

For Wilmington, lightning struck again, this time in the form of Mike Cafarella (Beavercreek), who laced a one-out home run in the top of the seventh to give WC a 3-2 lead.

After six strong innings from Reynolds, George was summoned to the mound and pitched a scoreless frame to earn his fifth save of the season. For Reynolds, the five-hit outing marked his second consecutive strong performance and first win of the year. "Clayton is a senior captain; he's really earned his stripes," Haley said.

"His last two outings have shown what he's capable of doing. I told him that all he has to do is go five strong, because if we don't start with Jamison we can close with him. Clayton and Kenny both pitched well today, and when Jamison comes into a game, we are always confident good things are going to happen."

Wilmington was held to four hits, but Cafarella, with the team's 12th homer of the spring, showed the Quakers are only a swing away from being dangerous.

"These guys can hit. In our lineup, from one through nine we have seven guys that can hit it out of the park. We just kept playing good defense and scrapped back," Haley said.