LET'S GO KROEGERING ... Wilmington College's Mike Kroeger is welcomed at home plate. The junior ripped his fifth home run of the season in WC's win over Otterbein.

Quakers knock Otterbein from
OAC unbeaten list

WC wins game two, 5-2

[Game 1 Box Score]

[Game 2 Box Score]

April 18, 2006

Ben Buehner

Senior Clayton Reynolds pitched 6.2 innings of seven-hit ball to lead Wilmington College past Otterbein, 5-2, in the second game of an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader Tuesday. Otterbein won the opener, 4-1.

The win moves Wilmington to 4-4 in the OAC, 11-9 overall. For Otterbein, the loss was their first in eight conference games. The Cardinals are 14-9 overall.

"Otterbein came in 6-0 and we knew we would have to play hard," WC head coach Tony Haley said. "When we got beat in the first game, we said, 'Hey, boys, you've got to pick it up and take care of your home field.' They came out ready to play."

In the opener, Otterbein's Jeremy Williams tossed a complete game five-hitter at Wilmington. The Quakers only run was knocked in by a Mike Kroeger (Cincinnati/Elder) double in the bottom of the first. Kroeger provided more fireworks in game two as the junior first baseman drilled his fifth homer of the season, a two-run shot that capped a four-run third inning that put the Quakers ahead, 5-0. Reynolds (Blanchester) and some sharp Wilmington defense took care of the balance of the game as the Quakers pumped new life into their hopes of making the OAC Tournament.

"We got another superb pitching effort from Clayton," Haley said. "He looked sharp, got ahead of the hitters and our defense played well. Coming into the season, I thought the strength of our team was our infield defense, and the last four or five games, they've played really well."

Greg Krieger (Bellefontaine) raised his average to .472 with a pair of singles and two RBI. Jimmy Wolverton (London/Madison Plains) also had two hits for Wilmington.

The Quakers will play Cedarville University 6 p.m. Wednesday at Fifth-Third Field in Dayton.