DOVER, Del. – Wesley College's baseball team scored seven runs in the first inning and held on to defeat St. Mary's, 10-7, in a pivotal Capital Athletic Conference matchup on Sunday afternoon at Bob Reed Field. The Wolverines (18-13, 7-8 CAC) earn the third seed in the CAC Playoffs and will host Frostburg State on Tuesday afternoon on April 16. The time will be announced later.
The Wolverines tallied just four hits in the first inning but were able to knock out Seahawks starting pitcher Sam Beatty after just a third of an inning. Beatty retired the first batter of the game but after Jon Carlson was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a walk issued to Cory Smith, senior Chris Tserkis drove in Carlson with a single to centerfield. Corey Jefferson was then hit by a pitch to load the bases and Morgan Rupp drew a free pass to make the score 2-0.
Steve Perone then drove in two more runs with a single through the right side and that was it for Beatty. Facing Ben Goldsmith, Sam Farnell laid down a bunt single to score Rupp, giving Wesley a five run cushion. A wild pitch then moved Farnell and Perone into scoring position and after a walk drawn by Matt Robles, Carlson delivered with a two-run single through the left side to cap the seven-run frame.
St. Mary's (13-21, 5-10 CAC) got three runs back in the second off Zach Stuart, who allowed four runs on seven hits in five innings of work to earn the victory.
To lead off the fourth, Robles hit his first career home run left field to extend Wesley's lead to 8-3. The Seahawks then scored two in the fifth and two more in the sixth off Ben Patti in the sixth to cut the deficit to a single run.
The Wolverines got RBI hits from Perone in the seventh and Mears in the eighth and that was all of the cushion that Rich Lober would need. After Patti held the Seahawks scoreless in the seventh, Lober picked up his league-leading fifth save of the year, striking out one while allowing no hits.
Both Robles and Perone recorded two hits apiece while Perone also drove in three runs on the day. Carlson also plated two runs for the Wolverines.
Prior to the game, Wesley honored all ten of its seniors who appeared in their final regular season game at Bob Reed Field: Matt Robles, Morgan Rupp, Jon Carlson, Sam Farnell, Chris Tserkis, Steve Perone, Rich Lober, Corey Jefferson, Robert Varvaro and Jordan Lozzi.