SALISBURY, M.D. – The Wilson Warbirds grabbed an early lead and held on late to edge the Delmarva Shorebirds, 3-2, in Tuesday night’s series opener at Purdue Stadium.
Wilson (7-9) struck first in the third inning when Jadyn Fielder grounded out, allowing Luiyin Alastre to come home for an early 1-0 lead.
The Warbirds added to the lead in the eighth scoring twice off Denton Biller using a double steal and an RBI hit from Brady Ebel to push the advantage to 3-0.
Delmarva (4-12) came charging back in the eighth. Braylon Whitaker put the Shorebirds on the board with an RBI double and Andres Nolaya perfectly executed a double steal and swiping home to cut the Wilson lead to 3-2.
Jose Meneses (W, 2-0) was awarded the victory after allowing two earned runs and fanning three over 1.1 innings.
Delmarva put the tying run on base in the ninth, however Yannic Walther cut down the runner attempting to advance to second base on a wild pitch to clear the bases and allow Garrett Hodges (S, 1) to nail down the series opening victory.
Kiefer Lord (L, 0-2) was charged with the loss after giving up one earned run and striking out 11 over his four innings of work.
The clubs collide again on Wednesday with first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m. Wilson will give the ball to left-hander Enderson Mercado (0-0, 6.00) while Delmarva will send right-hander Brayan Orantia (0-1, 6.55) to the mound.