Felician Athletics - 5/1/09 BASEBALL - Wilmington Edges Felician In Ninth, 3-2

LYNDHURST, N.J. – The Felician College baseball team left 10 men on base in its 3-2 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference loss to visiting Wilmington (Del.) University on Friday afternoon at Breslin Field. The regular-season ending three-game series between the teams, with CACC playoff implications for both schools, continues on Saturday with a doubleheader in New Castle, Del.

A one-out run-scoring double by Wilmington senior Matt Botting (Newark, DE/Newark) in the top of the ninth inning provided the winning margin. Felician (23-23, 13-12) had tied the contest on an RBI double by Vinnie DiBenedetti (Forked River, NJ/Lacey Township) in the bottom of the eighth. But winning pitcher Jordan Oncay (Newark, DE/St. Mark’s) led off the ninth with an infield single off of Golden Falcon reliever Jeff Calabrese (Freehold, NJ/CBA) (2-5) and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. One out later, Botting drove a ball into the right-center field gap for the eventual game-winner.

Oncay (2-1) had entered from his left field position to record a strikeout in the eighth, preserving the 2-2 tie with two runners on base. Cody Holliday (Havre de Grace, MD/Havre de Grace), who started in right field, worked around two walks in the ninth inning to record his third save of the year.

Wildcat starting pitcher Mike Godwin (Hockessin, DE/duPont) held the Golden Falcon offense at bay until the seventh, departing with 10 strikeouts and two walks in 6 2/3 innings, two batters after allowing Mike Libretta’s (Staten Island, NY/Moore Catholic) solo home run. Felician’s Albie Sanguiliano (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) was equally as effective, striking out 10 and walking two in 7 1/3 innings. Both starters allowed one earned run on five hits.

Holliday gave Wilmington (23-26, 14-11) a 2-0 lead in the fourth when he blasted an RBI triple to left-center and scored on a throwing error. J.T. Gregory (Woodbridge, VA/Gar-Field) had two hits for the Wildcats, as did Marcus McCleod (East Windsor, NJ/Hightstown) for the Golden Falcons. Felician junior reliever John Calise (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter’s Boys) tied the single-season and career school records for pitching appearances with his 24th and 59th, respectively.

Six Felician seniors – DiBendetti, Libretta, Jordan Noval (Manalapan, NJ/Manalapan), Sanguiliano, Dave Schoer (Manalapan, NJ/Manalapan) and Anthony Spina (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North) – were honored in pre-game Senior Day ceremonies.

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