Special to the News Messenger
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Wiley College baseball team out-slugged Philander Smith College to sweep a three-game Gulf Coast Athletic Conference series Friday and Saturday at Lamar-Porter Field.
The Wildcats (16-15, 8-4 GCAC) move into a tie for second with Dillard University and a game behind Rust College for first. The Panthers lost their fifth straight game and fell to fifth.
GAME 1
WILEY COLLEGE 8, PHILANDER SMITH 4
Ivan Del Villar went 3-for-4 with three doubles, a run and a run batted in. Jhan Carlos Javier went 2-for-3, hitting his fifth home run of the season – which is tied for second in the conference. He scored two runs and drove in two. Marquis Kuykendall went 1-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. Alexander San Miguel hit a RBI single.
Daniel Cox threw his second consecutive complete game – joining his teammate Jalen Porter who accomplished the feat in games on February 11 and 17. In seven innings, Cox limited the Panthers to three earned runs on six hits, one walk and three strikeouts.
GAME 2
WILEY COLLEGE 9, PHILANDER SMITH 3
The Wildcats pounded Philander Smith’s pitchers for 11 hits in the second game. Luis Mares went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a run and three RBIs. Del Villar went 2-for-4 with a double, a run and an RBI. Emanuel Gutierrez went 2-for-4 with a run and RBI. Julian Rosales hit his first home run of the season with a three-run blast in the fourth.
Isaac Burciaga made his sixth start of the season. He went four innings, allowing three runs on five hits, three walks and struck out five – earning his conference-leading fifth victory of the season. Burciaga escaped a bases loaded jam in the second with a strikeout. He got two strikeouts and a pop out after the first two batters reached in the fourth inning.
Jalen Porter took over in the fifth with two on and no one out. After allowing two batters to reach, he struck out six straight batters. He allowed a single in the seventh but struck out the last two hitters to record his first career save.
GAME 3
WILEY COLLEGE 14, PHILANDER SMITH 9
Ivan Del Villar went 5-for-6, with four runs and five RBIs. He is the first Wildcat to record five or more hits in a game since 2018. He finished the series with eight extra base hits. Mares went 4-for-5 and scored two runs. Woodard went 3-for-5 with two runs and three RBIs. Devin Molina went 2-for-3 with two runs. He hit his second home run of the season in the second inning.
Jerrius Vickers made his first career start on the mound and went two innings. He allowed three runs on three hits, walked one and struck out one. Chance Guidry pitched to five batters in the third, recording one out. A.J. Garcia threw 1 1/3 innings. Jalen Porter pitched the last 5 1/3 innings to earn his third win of the season. He only gave up two runs on six hits and struck out four.
Wiley College will host Southwestern Assemblies of God University, which is ranked No. 24 in the NAIA Top 25 poll at 1 p.m. Tuesday. The Wildcats were swept in a doubleheader at Waxahachie on February 28. They haven’t beaten the Lions since 2019.
