Box Score

KINSTON, N.C. - While the University of Maryland Eastern Shore would have liked a victory to close out their three game series with Navy, they enjoyed their finest offensive display thus far in the young season. The Hawks tallied ten hits and drove five runs across the plate in the 11-5 defeat at the hands of the Midshipmen.

The leader of the Hawks' offense was senior Greg Turlik (Gaithersburg, Md.). He went 2-for-4 from the dish, drove in three runs, and hit the Hawks first homerun of the season in the sixth inning. Sophomores Justin Dattilo (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Skylar Murray (Georgetown, Del.) also contributed four hits while scoring three of the five runs. Senior Joshua James (Milford, Del.) added a run, a base hit and a walk to the Hawks' offense.

Despite the offensive burst, UMES had to come back from an early Navy lead. The Midshipmen put up a crooked number in the first inning as their first four runners reached base, two of them scoring, before junior Hawk Tanner Whiteman (Cazenovia, N.Y.) got the next three batters to strike out, pop out and ground out, respectively, to retire the side.

Navy added another run in the third to increase their lead to 3-0 before UMES answered back. With two runners on base, Turlik laced a single thru the middle to cut the deficit to two. Dattilo would later score on a fielder's choice to trim the deficit to one.

The Hawks were able to hold the score there until the bottom of the fifth. In that inning, the Midshipmen sent eight men to the plate. Two runners would score on RBI singles before freshman Scott Bean (Harveys Lake, Pa.) relieved Whiteman. Though Bean would retire the side, an RBI double preceded that, scoring two more Navy runs.

Undeterred, UMES answered again in the top of the sixth. After a pitching change, Dattilo singled and Turlik homered, immediately decreasing the margin to 7-4. The Hawks had runners on the corners when Navy denied further runs via a pickoff and a pair of strikeouts.

Four more runs were produced by Navy in the seventh with a two RBI single and a two RBI double. Murray was able to score on a Midshipmen error in the top of the eighth, but that would round out the scoring as the Hawks fell 11-5.

In addition to the hitters' production, four Hawk pitchers ended up with no earned runs on the stat line as well. The aforementioned Bean went 2/3 of an inning, freshman Travis Carden (Largo, Fla.) came in as a specialty reliever, earning a strikeout. Another freshman, Chris Melrath (Rising Sun, Md.) went 1/3 of an inning, finishing off Navy in the seventh. Senior Chipper Smith (Florence, S.C.) was the final pitcher for the Hawks and retired the side in order using just ten pitches.

UMES will have a week to rest up before they face Furman, Campbell and Miami (Ohio) in the Fighting Camel Classic in Buies Creek, N.C. next weekend.