DOVER, Del. – Pitcher Jeff Cochran was dominant on the mound and three Wolverines went deep as Wesley College's baseball team shut out Penn State-Berks, 11-0 on Thursday afternoon at Bob Reed Field.
Making just the second start of his career, Cochran (1-1) allowed just one hit and a walk in seven innings while striking out six Nittany Lions. A freshman from Richboro, Pa., Cochran faced just two over the minimum and at two different occasions retired seven straight batters.
Cochran also got plenty of help from his offense as Wesley (10-3) tallied 14 hits on the day. Leading the charge was Steve Perone who went 4-5 with a home run, a double, three runs scored and two RBIs. Geoff Kimmel and Morgan Rupp also went deep and combined to go 5-8 with six runs and five runs batted in. Matt Robles also plated three runners from the ninth spot in the order.
A junior from Gainesville, Va., Robles got the Wolverines on the board with a two-run single up the middle. Scoring on the play was Perone and Bryan Reshetar who reached earlier on a double and a walk, respectively.
Wesley tacked on two more in both the third and fourth innings with Rupp taking Lions pitcher Aaron Stupp deep to right center in the third. Kimmel followed up in the fourth with a blast over the scoreboard in left.
Up 6-0 after six and a half, the Wolverines put another two on the scoreboard in the seventh. After Rupp walked to lead off the inning, Perone moved him over to second with a single through the right side. Rupp would later score as Steve Koenig, a PSU-Berks reliever, threw two wild pitches which moved Perone to third. Robles then hit a deep fly to center field which was long enough to score Perone.
PSU-Berks brought in Ken Mack to pitch the eighth but Wesley continued its onslaught on opposing pitchers with three more runs. With one out, Kimmel hit a ball to the deepest part of the field which just got over the glove of the centerfielder and Kimmel ran 270 feet for his team-high second triple of the season. Rupp followed up with a single and he scored as Perone went deep to right field.
Andrew Cooper and Rich Lober pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings for the Wolverines who logged their fourth shutout of the season.
The Wolverines return to the diamond on March 17-18 when they travel to St. Mary's (Md.) for a three-game capital Athletic Conference tilt. Saturday's doubleheader is slated for 1 pm while Sunday's single game is set for 1 pm.