Baseball tops Dillard, Rust; advances to Championship
JACKSON, Miss. - The Wiley University baseball team has a date with Destiny. It took an early lead and pulled away late in a 13-5 victory over No. 3 seed Dillard University and overcame an early deficit to roll past No. 5 seed Rust College 21-11 - advancing to the championship of the 2024 Hope Credit Union Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Baseball Championship at Hank Aaron Sports Academy.
The Wildcats (28-18) will face No. 2 seed Talladega College at noon on Sunday. If they win a second game will follow. This is the first time Wiley has advanced to the championship in a conference tournament since 2007.
For the first time in the tournament, Wiley struck first against Dillard. With two outs, Ryan Ready blasted his ninth home run of the season into the trees beyond the left field wall. Ivan Del Villar struck out but the pitch went to the backstop, allowing him to reach first. Amir Mason singled and took second on the throw to third. Jhan Carlos Javier brought both players home with a triple to left-center field - giving the Wildcats a three-run lead.
They added a run in the second inning. Abel Rodriguez hit it to the centerfield wall but the centerfielder dropped the ball, allowing Rodriguez to reach third. Jacob Perez drove him in with a single. Dillard got on the board in the third inning. Wiley padded its lead with two runs in the fifth. Mason doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brendan Mendoza. Jhan Carlos Javier walked and stole second. Rodriguez brought him home with a single.
The Bleu Devils rallied for four runs in the sixth. Nick Rodriguez took over with the bases loaded and one out. He got a lineout and a strikeout to end the inning. Nick Rodriguez set Dillard down in order in the eighth.
The Wildcats put the game away. Eddie Garza led off with a double and scored on a single by Ready. Amir Mason hit an RBI single. Allan Mendoza pinch-hit for Abel Rodriguez and drove in two runs with a double in his first at-bat of the tournament. Wiley put up seven runs on five hits and sent 11 batters to the plate. Dillard had one batter reach in the ninth but he was erased on a double play.
Mason went 3-for-5 with three runs and a run batted in. Ready and Javier each recorded two hits, scored two runs and drove in two. Abel Rodriguez tallied two hits, a run and an RBI.
Jaylen Cream made his first career postseason start and went 5 1/3 innings and struck out five to earn his fourth win of the season. Nick Rodriguez held Dillard to one hit and struck out three in 3 2/3 innings to earn his second save.
Jalen Porter made his second start of the tournament against Rust College. He looked like he was going to breeze through the first inning, retiring the first two batters. He allowed an infield single and four walks before getting the last batter to pop out. Porter got two quick outs in the second inning. Five batters reached resulting in four runs which put Wiley in a 6-1 hole in the second inning.
Though it had already played, Wiley showed no signs of slowing down. It loaded the bases with a single by Abel Rodriguez, Eddie Garza reaching base on a third-strike wild pitch and a walk by Perez. Ready and Del Villar drove in runs with walks. A two-RBI single by Amir Mason cut the margin to one. Anthony Castaneda gave the Wildcats the lead with a two-RBI single. Kai Woodard extended the lead with a RBI single.
Wiley scored in the first five innings. It put up four runs in the fourth inning. Mason led off with a double and scored on a single by Javier. Woodard hit an RBI single and Ready drove in two with a single, extending the lead to 13-7. In the fifth inning, Ready brought home three runs with a home run over the left field wall which put Wiley up by 11. He became the second Wildcat to reach double-digit home runs.
Rust (16-33) bounced back with four runs in the sixth. The Wildcats wrapped up the game in the seventh inning. Woodard was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on Abel Rodriguez's base hit. He scored when Garza reached on an error. Mason finished it off with a RBI double to left-center field. He went 4-for-6 with two runs and three RBI. Ready recorded two hits, scored two runs and drove in six. Perez went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI.
Porter picked up his second win, tossing four innings. He struck out six batters. Nick Rodriguez threw three innings and fanned three to pick up his third save.
For more coverage on the Wildcats visit Baseball - Wiley University (wileyathletics.com)
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