FLORENCE, Kentucky – The Wilmington College baseball team erupted for 41 runs on 45 hits in a doubleheader sweep of Mount St. Joseph University (MSJ) on Sunday, winning game one 22-8 and talking game two 19-7.

In game one, the Lions tagged Fightin' Quaker starter David Ernst for a run in the first, but an RBI-single from Evan Kelsey and a sacrifice fly from Caleb Scott in the third put Wilmington up 2-1. Both teams would score a run in the fourth, but a three-run fifth courtesy of RBI-hits from Jesse Reliford and Scott along with a Lion error put Wilmington on top 6-2 in the middle of the fifth.

Tre Nixon relieved Ernst for the bottom half of the winning and stranded a two-out hit with a pick-off, setting up the Quaker offense to blow the game wide open in the sixth. Wilmington batted around in the frame, scoring nine runs on six hits that included a grand slam from Dominic Depa. MSJ would get four runs back int the bottom of the sixth to make the core 15-6, but a five-run eighth from WC put the game away.

Nixon earned the win in relief, allowing one four runs, though just one earned, on three hits in 1.2 innings. AJ Wolf recorded the final 10 outs for the Quakers. The Lion starter, Aidan Post, dipped to 1-1 on the season allowing five earned runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings. MSJ used five pitchers in the game, and all of them allowed at least two runs.

Wilmington put together 24 hits on the day with four Quakers – Jared Lammert, Reliford, Scott and Owen Baumann – each having at least three-hit games. Lammert, in the lead-off sport, went 4-for-6 with three RBIs and three runs scored while Reliford finished 4-for-7 with two RBIs and three runs scored. Scott went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored in the cleanup spot of the order while Baumann, batting ninth, was a perfect 5-for-5. Depa, courtesy of the home run, had a team-best six RBIs.

MSJ had 10 hits in game one from 10 different individuals. Jake Lawson and Nicholas Shields hit home runs.

In game two, the Quakers plated five runs on two hits with two MSJ errors in the first, but the Lions used the long ball to tie the game in the bottom of the inning. Andrew Harrison hit a three-run home run and Nicholas Shield hit a two-run bomb to tie the game. The hosts took the lead with a single run in the second. 

Neither team would score a run for four innings, thanks in part to four scoreless innings from Austin Christman that included four strikeouts. Trailing 6-5, Wilmington popped off for three runs in the seventh on RBI-singles from Kalt and Jacob Feltner. The Quakers scored an unearned run in the eighth and put the game away with a 10-hit, 10-run ninth inning.

Christman picked up the win in relief while Luke Chappie earned a three-inning save. Evan Webb, the second reliever for MSJ, took the loss allowing three runs (two earned) in 1.2 innings.

Kelsey led Wilmington in the hits category in game with, going 5-for-7 with three RBIs and three runs scored batting second. He also swiped two bases in the game. Scott and Baumann also had three-hit contests. Ryan Murray led MSJ with four hits in defeat.

Wilmington (4-2) hosts Bluffton University in the home-opener at Tewksbury-Delaney Field on Tuesday afternoon.