Hawks Dive Past Wilmington

Port Charlotte, Fla.- Errick Maddern pitched a complete game, as Becker College defeated Wilmington College 7-5 in men's baseball action.

Becker jumped on the board in the first inning when Josue Lopez drove in Joe Corey with an RBI single. The Quakers tied the game in the top of the second inning when Bruce Dunlap had an RBI double, scoring Brandon Buchanan.

The Hawks regained the lead in the bottom of the second inning on a Joe Corey sacrifice fly with the bases loaded. The Hawks added three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Jario Valdez led off the inning with a triple into the right center field gap. Valdez scored on a throwing error from the Wilmington second baseman, making score 3-1.  The Hawks made the score 4-1 on a Weston Meehan RBI single, scoring.  Josue Lopez followed with a Sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Dan Briand.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Josue Lopez drove in his third run of the game with an RBI single, making the score 6-1. The Hawks scored their seventh and final run of the game on an RBI single from Keith Kandel.

In the top of the eighth inning, the Quakers began to mount a rally. Wilmington had two on and nobody out, when Mitch Fogg hit a ball back to Becker pitcher Errick Maddern. Maddern tried to get the lead runner at third base, but over threw Jim Ceglarek, allowing two runs to score. Brandon Buchanan added an RBI single, making the score 7-4.

Wilmington continued to make things interesting in the top of the ninth. The Quakers had runners on first and third, when Mitch Fogg drove in his third run of the game, making the score 7-5.  With two runners in scoring position and two outs, Brandon Buchanan sharply grounded a ball to the right side of the infield. Keith Kandel made a diving stop, throwing Buchanan out at first, securing the win for the Hawks.

Becker improved to 2-4 on the season.