Box Score | Photo Gallery

SALISBURY, Md.-- In their opening round game of the MEAC baseball tournament, the UMES Hawks conceded four runs in the final two innings as the Savannah State Tigers rallied from three runs down to claim victory by an 8-6 score.

The contest started on a wild first inning. Savannah plated three runs with a furious two-out rally, all on RBI singles from Zachary Brigham, Michael McHugh and Hector Benitez. In the bottom of the frame the Hawks answered back with a RBI groundout from sophomore Justin Dattilo (Pittsburgh, Pa.) to make it a 3-1 game. Freshman Isaiah Chambers (Forestville, Md.) and senior Greg Turlik (Gaithersburg, Md.) then advanced home on errors to tie the score at three.

Junior Connor Breslin (Saylorsburg, Pa.) singled to lead off the second inning, and his classmate Mike Escanilla (Waldorf, Md.) plated him to give the Hawks a 4-3 advantage. In the fourth, UMES padded their lead with a two-RBI single from senior Joshua James (Milford, Del.) that gave the Hawks a 6-3 lead.

Sophomore Jesse Stinnett (Madison Heights, Va.) recovered nicely from the shaky first, pitching seven innings and giving up four runs over 11 hits. He would strike out nine compared to only two walks.

Savannah chipped away in the seventh with a solo smash from Mendez Elder to close the gap to two runs. The following inning the Tigers scored on a sacrifice fly and an RBI groundout, leveling the score at 6-6 headed to the bottom of the eighth. Senior Chipper Smith (Florence, S.C.) induced a strikeout to keep the score there heading to the ninth.

After the first two Tigers reached base on walks in the ninth, Hector Benitez singled past a drawn in Hawks infield, allowing Savannah State to retake the lead for the first time since the first inning. UMES went down in order in the ninth to give the Tigers the win.

Tiger reliever Spencer Gillis received his second win of the season while Smith was saddled with his fifth loss.

UMES will now face the loser of Norfolk State/Delaware State tomorrow morning at 9:00a.m. for an elimination matchup. Live stats and audio will be available.