Buckeye Reporter

The No. 12 nationally-ranked Baldwin Wallace University baseball team faced the University of Akron in a non-conference single game on Skeeles Field. The Yellow Jackets (27-6) notched 17 hits in the contest, scoring eight runs in the sixth inning, to carry them to a 17-2 seven-inning victory over the NCAA Division I Zips (11-29). 

BW was led by junior centerfielder Vincent Capolupo (Kenmore, N.Y./St. Joseph's Collegiate) as he hit 3-4 with three RBIs and three runs. Senior left fielder Bijan Kamalipour (Frisco, Texas/Jesuit College Preparatory School) hit 4-4 on the day with three RBIs, two runs, and a double. Senior Clay Anderson (Broadview Heights/Trinity) started on the mound for the Yellow Jackets and earned the win (1-0), pitching 4.1 innings, allowing just two runs on five hits.

Scoring Plays

• In the first at-bat of the game, Capolupo hit a homerun over right center field to give BW the 1-0 jump and the early momentum
• BW scored four in the second on a two-run single by Capolupo to score Kamalipour and junior second baseman Ryan Guggenheim (Solon) and a two-run double by senior All-Mideast Region shortstop Alex Ludwick (Brunswick/Padua Franciscan) to score Capolupo and sophomore catcher Mark Mohnickey, Jr (North Ridgeville/St. Edward), to make it 5-0
• The Zips earned one run in the bottom of the third on an RBI single to left field
• In the top of the fifth, the Yellow Jackets notched two more on a two-run double to right center field by Kamalipour
• Akron tallied one in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single
• BW scored eight runs in the sixth, highlighted by four walk-ins and a grand slam homerun over right field by Mohnickey (15-2)
• In the top of the seventh, the Yellow Jackets tallied two more on an RBI double down the right field line by junior designated hitter Bryce Holt (Richfield/Revere) to score Guggenheim and freshman third baseman Sean Kolenich (Parma/St. Edward)
• Relieve pitchers Scott Kirchhoff (Toledo/Sylvania Northview) and Nik Baldis (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) held the Zips scoreless in the last two frames as BW went on to claim the huge 17-2 win over Akron

On the Mound

• Senior right hander Anderson pitched 4.1 innings, allowing just two runs and walked one batter
• Senior right hander Kirchhoff threw 1.2 innings, allowing just one hit
• Junior right hander Baldis closed in the seventh, allowing no hits

The Yellow Jackets return to play Saturday, April 30 as the team hosts an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader against No. 1 nationally-ranked Marietta College. First pitch of game one is set for 1:00 p.m., with the second game to follow on Fisher Field.