Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University baseball team earned two one-run victories in a doubleheader sweep over Concord (W.Va.) University Saturday at Ron Christopher Stadium and Plyler Athletic Field. The host Bulldogs won the first game 7-6 and the second game 1-0 to improve their record to 3-0 overall on the young season. WU redshirt senior
Jimmy Doolittle (Charlotte, N.C.) pitched a two-hit shutout in the nightcap.
"I thought this weekend was a good opening series for us," Wingate head baseball coach
Jeff Gregory says. "We found a way to win three games in different ways. Our bullpen was outstanding this weekend, we manufacture some runs, had some timely hitting, got quality starts and played pretty good on the defensive side. I like how the guys competed all weekend long."
Game #1 – Wingate 7, Concord (W.Va.) 6
Wingate senior center fielder
Ty Andrus (Winston-Salem, N.C.) hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Bulldogs the lead for good. Freshman left fielder
Justin Guy (Greensboro, N.C.) started the sixth by reaching on an error. Andrus followed with his first home run of the season to make the score 6-5.
WU freshman right fielder
Tanner Forry (York, Pa.) walked and moved to second on an error. Forry scored the Bulldogs' third run of the sixth inning when senior designated hitter
Bradley Brown (Rockingham, N.C.) delivered an RBI single to give the hosts a 7-5 edge.
Earlier, the Bulldogs took a 3-1 lead with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. The hosts scored the three runs with two outs. With one down, Forry reached on an infield single. One out later, Brown walked. Both runners scored on a two-RBI triple by redshirt junior catcher
Micah Goodwin (Rougemont, N.C.).
Both teams scored singles in the third before Concord added one run in the fourth and two in the fifth to take a 5-4 edge. In the Mountain Lion sixth, the visitors scored two runs on one hit and one error. The big blow was a two-RBI double by junior catcher
Jordan Clark (Scott Depot, W.Va.).
Bulldog junior infielder
Zach Little (Troutman, N.C.) was three-for-five with a double and an RBI. Both Goodwin and Forry had two hits and two RBI each. Clark led Concord with three hits in four tries. He had two doubles and three RBI. The Mountain Lions left 13 runners on base, while the Bulldogs stranded 11 base runners.
Wingate sophomore right-hander
Alex Rodriguez (Kannapolis, N.C.) picked up the win in relief. The Northwest Cabarrus High School product hurled 2.1 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on two hits. Rodriguez struck out two and walked two.
WU junior
Austin Turgeon (Athens, Ga.) earned the save with 2.1 innings of two-hit, scoreless ball. He struck out two and walked one. For Concord, sophomore reliever Cody Dooley (Roanoke, Va.) took the loss. In three innings, Dooley surrendered three runs (two earned) on five hits. He struck out three and walked one.
Game #2 – Wingate 1, Concord (W.Va.) 0
Doolittle allowed harmless singles in the second and third innings, striking out seven and walking one batter (in the sixth inning). Concord starter and tough-luck loser
Anthony Stehlin (Montclair, Va.) also pitched a two-hitter with two strikeouts and no walks. Stehlin allowed an unearned run in the first inning.
In the Wingate first, Andrus started things by reaching on an infield single. One out later, junior third baseman
Tyler Schneider (Richland, Ind.) reached on an error to put runners on the corners. With two outs, the Bulldog duo of Andrus and Schneider executed a double steal of home and second to give Doolittle the only run he would need.
Doolittle pitched 6.1 innings, getting a big boost from senior lefty
Alon Smith (Charlotte, N.C.) and sophomore righty
Josh Karklin (Waxhaw, N.C.). The Bulldog relief duo faced and retired one batter each to seal the deal. Karklin picked up the save, the first of his WU career.
Wingate returns to Christopher Stadium and Plyler Athletic Field Tuesday for a 4 p.m. contest against Erskine College. Concord returns to North Carolina Saturday, Feb. 10 for a twin bill against CIAA member Winston-Salem State.
