April 18, 2015 Box Score (Hawks 11, Hornets 3) Box Score (Hawks 6, Hornets 5)
PRINCESS ANNE, Md.  -- When the Hawks baseball team squared off with Delaware State in a doubleheader last month, UMES swept the two contests with an 11-3 victory and an 8-6 win that included a late Hawk comeback. In Saturday's doubleheader in Princess Anne, both teams experienced dÃÆ'Æ'Æ'ÃÆ'ââ'¬Â '©jÃÆ'Æ'Æ'ÃÆ'ââ'¬Â ' vu as the Hawks routed the Hornets in game one by an 11-3 score, then scored twice in the seventh for a 6-5 victory walk-off win and a sweep.
As a result of their sweep, the Hawks match their win total from a year ago with 13, while earning their 10th and 11th conference wins for the first time since 2012.
In the first game the Hawks rode the back of sophomore starter Jesse Stinnett (Madison Heights, Va.) while capitalizing on some Hornet errors. After Stinnett tossed a scoreless first, the Hawks would score in the bottom half. Junior Mike Escanilla (Waldorf, Md.) reached third on a wild pitch and then scored on an errant throw. After the trail runner, senior Joshua James (Milford, Del.), made it to third on a balk; he would score on a groundout to give the Hawks the early edge.
Another error and balk allowed runners to score on a sacrifice fly from sophomore Justin Dattilo (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and a single by senior Greg Turlik (Gaithersburg, Md.) drove the score up to 4-0, and more runs came when another error gave UMESÂ a run in the fourth, as freshman Grayson Trower (Chesterfield, Va.) hit a sacrifice fly, followed by Escanilla's triple and RBI single from freshman Isaiah Chambers (Forestville, Md.) that made the lead 6-0.
A homerun by Jayeln Zielecki cracked Stinnett's code in the fifth, and the Hornets tacked on another run in the sixth to close the gap to 6-2. However, the Hawks took advantage of two more errors to score three times in the bottom of the sixth, with two of those runs coming on a two RBI single from Dattilo.
Stinnett would throw a scoreless seventh to complete his afternoon. He earned the win by giving up just six hits and two earned runs, along with four strikeouts.
The Hornets would have their closest comeback attempt in the eighth after scoring a run and loading the bases against sophomore reliever Kameron Raison (Newark, Del.), but a great catch from James in left field and a pop up to short quelled the rally. Â
A pair of runs in the eighth rounded out the scoring and freshman pitcher Toby Hoskins (North East, Md.) followed that with a 1-2-3 ninth, giving the Hawks the win.
Game two started off much more evenly, as the Hornets got a single from Cameron Onderko that allowed Charles Dailey to score. The Hawks immediately struck back with a James double that scored Escanilla to tie the score. In the third inning, it was the Hornets who broke the tie with a Chris Gonzalez double scoring a second Hornet.
A see-saw battle ensued from then on. UMES took the lead in the fourth on a Trower triple and a squeeze play from Escanilla. Delaware State took the lead in the sixth with a three run inning in large part to a clutch two RBI single from Dailey that made the score 5-3 in favor of the Hornets.
The Hawks would begin their comeback in the bottom of the sixth, as the combination of Escanilla and James struck again with a single and stolen base by the UMES second baseman and another single by the UMES left fielder. In one inning, a 5-3 deficit had been trimmed to 5-4.
Hoskins, the Hawk who ended the first game, pitched a scoreless seventh to give his team an optimal chance to complete the comeback. In the bottom of the inning, sophomore Skylar Murray (Georgetown, Del.) led off with a single and Chambers came in to pinch run. Fellow sophomore Troy Anderson (Bridgeport, W.Va.) singled on a bunt to get Chambers to third. Trower also reached on a bunt, allowing Chambers to score and tie the game.
After an intentional walk to Escanilla to load the bases and a fielder's choice that retired Anderson at home, James was tasked with ending the game with a walk off. He grounded a high hop to third, and when the Hornet fielder came down to try and tag Escanilla out at third base. However, Escanilla eluded the tag and slid in safely as Trower trotted home with the winning run.
The fielder's choice was the second walk off credited to James this season.
Tomorrow at noon, UMES will try to sweep Delaware State for the second time this year. The game will be played at Hawk Stadium, and admission will be free.
