By DAN VENTURA
Often times, much-anticipated pitching matchups fail to live up to the hype.
Today was not the case.
Belmont's Cole Bartels and Wilmington's Jackson Gillis showed why their future destination is at the Division 1 level (unless the MLB Draft changes things). The Penn State-bound Bartles allowed just one hit and struck out 15 as the Marauders (4-0) remained unbeaten with a 2-0 victory over the Wildcats.
“I thought Cole pitched a great game today, he got stronger as the game went on,” Belmont coach Jim Brown said. “He kept his pitch count down (107) so that he could go all seven. It was the type of game we expected, they're a great team and (Gillis) is a great pitcher.”
Gillis was hardly chopped liver himself. The highly-touted future Vanderbilt Commodore went the first five and with any good fortune could have escaped without allowing a run. He was nicked for a pair of hits and one run while striking out 11.
Belmont gave Bartels all the run support he would need in the second inning. Ryan Noone struck out for what should have been the third out, but he reached base when the ball eluded catcher Connor Zaya. Noone advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a sharp single to center by Noah Riley (2-for-3).
Bartels guarded the lead with a vengeance. He had one minor hiccup in the fourth when Brian Cavanaugh (1-for-1 with two walks) led off with a double, but was stranded there when Bartles struck out the next three batters.
“Of course I want to beat (Gillis), but it was no different than any other game for me,” Bartels said. “You're not going to get many runs against Jackson Gillis so I had to go in there and think no runs. I got a lot more confident as the game went on, I felt I got stronger and my offspeed pitches were spinning more.”
Belmont scored its final run off reliever Chris Grecco in the last of the sixth. Bartels singled and Cal Christofori reached on an error. The runners moved up a base on a sacrifice by Dennis Crowley.
Noone tried to squeeze the runner, but Wilmington was able to make the play at the plate to get Bartels. An aggressive Noone broke for second and as soon as the throw went down, Christofori made a dash for the plate and scored.
Blog:
Media:
