DOVER, Del. – Trevor Mears went 5-for-5 and drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Wesley College baseball team a 7-6 victory over Susquehanna on Tuesday afternoon at Bob Reed Field. The Wolverines move to 12-8 on the season and snapped the Crusaders' (15-4) 15-game winning streak.
A native of Millsboro, Del., Mears, who also was hit by a pitch in his first at-bat to reach safely in all six plate appearances, drilled a shot to left field to score Cory Smith from second for the winning run. Smith recorded a one-out single to start the frame and stole second base before Mears' career-high fifth base hit of the day. It was the first five-hit game for a Wolverine since Geoff Kimmel did so on April 20, 2012 against York in the Capital Athletic Conference Playoffs.
Wesley needed to rally from a 6-3 deficit just to send the game into extra innings as Susquehanna responded with six unanswered runs after the Wolverines took a 3-0 lead after the first inning. Conner Gobright provided the big stick for the Navy & White with a three-run opposite field home run to give Wesley the early three-run advantage. Gobright finished the day 3-for-5 with five RBIs, including an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to score Mears, and more importantly tie the game at six.
The Crusaders cut Wesley's lead to 3-2 with single runs in the second and third innings but were able to get three more in the fourth and another in the fifth off Wesley freshman hurlers Sagar Patel and Taylor Reynolds to double up the Wolverines.
Patel was credited with the no-decision in his second career start, allowing five earned runs on seven hits in three-plus innings. Reynolds made just his second appearance of the season, allowing just one run on one hit and a walk in two innings.
Rob Mills then relieved Reynolds to start the sixth inning and tossed three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and a walk while striking out three, allowing Wesley to claw back into the game.
A pair of Susquehanna errors in the seventh inning was very beneficial to the Wolverines as Wesley scored a pair of runs to cut the Crusaders lead to 6-5. Stan Zulkowski led off the inning by reaching on an error and advanced to second on a ground out by Smith. A single by Mears got Zulkowski to third before Gobright's RBI single to left plated Zulkowski.
Mears, whose average jumped up 41 points on the day, and Zulkowski then executed a successful double steal but the throw by the catcher to second base was wild and Mears was able to score on the play.
After a scoreless eighth inning for both teams, Wesley brought in Andrew Cooper, who continued his stellar season with three more scoreless innings. Thanks to the timely hitting by the Wolverines as darkness started to settle in, Cooper picked up his fourth win of the season after allowing just two hits.
Luc Kocher (4-1) was credited with the loss for the Crusaders, allowing two earned runs on four hits over the final 2.1 innings. Starting pitcher Eric Soranno pitched well in the no-decision, allowing just three runs on six hits in 5.2 innings.
Wesley returns to action for a CAC matchup at Marymount on Wednesday, April 2, at 1 pm.