Jeremy Ludemann
Staff Writer
The College of Wooster baseball team has been looking for consistency throughout this year’s campaign, and for one game, they found perfection. Last Saturday, Fighting Scot hurler Kyle Cunningham-Rhoads ’12 threw the second perfect game in school history, as Wooster defeated Hiram on the road 16-0 in seven innings.
In the second game of the weekend double-header, Cunningham-Rhoads delivered a virtuoso performance on the mound. The Kalamazoo, Mich. native had four strikeouts and continued to trick opponents with his strong change-up. Cunningham-Rhoads has become a stalwart in the Fighting Scot rotation and may prove to be the lynchpin for the team’s success for the remainder of the NCAC season.
Earlier in the day, the Scots took down the Terriers 7-2 and received another strong pitching performance from Josh Stidham ’12. Stidham improved to 3-2 for the season as he threw a complete-game five hitter, also struck out six Hiram batters.
The once-anemic Wooster offense erupted in the double-header, as the Scots raked up 30 hits in the two game set with Hiram. Johnathan Ray ’13, Zack Vesco ’12, Michael Debord ’12 and Cal Thomay ’14 all delivered home runs to pace the Scots offensively, who have seemed to hit their stride as conference play heats up.
On Monday, the bats continued to stay warm for Wooster, as they held off non-conference foe Capital University 15-6. After a quick 6-0 start thanks to a 3-run homer from Vesco and a single from Billy Farrow ’14 that drove in two runs, the Crusaders fired back with five runs of their own.
With the Scots clinging to a one run lead after three innings, Colin Meinzer ’12 and Keenan White ’13 halted the Capital advance, as the Scots limited their foe to only five hits for the remainder of the contest. Meinzer struck out seven Crusader batters, while White and Jon Huisel ’14 combined to throw four scoreless innings for Wooster, who improved their record to 15-11 with the win.
Currently, the Scots are fighting with Kenyon College for the top slot in the North Coast Athletic Conference’s Eastern Division, and could win the conference title in early May, if they can continue to tap into the fountain of excellence.
The Scots traveled to Hiram on Tuesday, winning 4-3 and 12-2 in a doubleheader. They played at Ohio Northern University on Wednesday after press time. The team will travel to Oberlin, Ohio over the weekend for a four-game conference slate against Oberlin College.