Box Score April 24, 2016 Box Score (Game 1) l Box Score (Game 2)
PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland - Looking to climb the ladder away from their fourth place standing in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Northern Division, the Hawks got a big boost from freshman Zach Mills (Parksley, Virginia). His walk off single in the 11th inning of game one helped propel the team to a split with Delaware State, pushing them closer in the standings.
Thanks to Mills' base hit, the Hawks won the first game 4-3 before falling in the nightcap 4-2. Maryland Eastern Shore improved to 12-26 with a 5-12 mark in conference. Delaware State jumped to 10-28 with a 10-6 MEAC record.
"[Our] guys played hard today to earn a split against a very good team." Hawks head coach John O'Neil said postgame. "Pitching was very good today. Our bats struggled throughout the day, but they did enough to earn a great come from behind win."
The offense spread out eight hits over seven batters in the first game. Sophomore Jessey Valdez (Dorchester, Massachusetts) was the only Hawk with two hits. In the second game the Hawks were efficient, needing just two hits to score two runs. Freshman Tom Summers (West Decatur, Pennsylvania) broke up a Hornet no-hit bid with a single in the fifth.
Sophomores Chris Melrath (Rising Sun, Maryland) and Scott Bean (Harveys Lake, Pennsylvania) enjoyed nice outings on the mound. Melrath battled through some challenging innings to give up three runs over five frames with four strikeouts, and Bean conceded some runs late but kept the Hawks in it by pitching into the sixth.
In relief, three pitchers-senior Devin Repine (Salisbury, Maryland) and sophomores Jordan Turner (Baltimore, Maryland) and Toby Hoskins (North East, Maryland)-combined for 7 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Hoskins alone pitched 4 1/3 out of the pen, striking out two along the way.
The opening game saw both teams trading off runs. Delaware State scored first off an error in the second and Maryland Eastern Shore got an RBI single from Summers to tie it up. The Hornets would score twice more in the fourth but a two run single from junior Jordan Martin (Atlanta, Georgia) in the fifth knotted things back up at 3-3.
Effective relief-including Hoskins' ability to escape a couple jams late-forced the game into extras. The Hornets would strand four baserunners in extras, allowing the Hawks to strike in the 11th. Valdez and sophomore Jamison Trower (Chesterfield, Virginia) walked and advanced into scoring position on a groundout. That set up Mills' game winning poke through the left side.
The nightcap saw the Hawks take the lead early when Jamison Trower scored on a Hornet error. However, a wild pitch and an RBI double from Delaware State gave them the edge by the fourth inning. In the sixth they added two more on another double to push the lead to 4-1. Maryland Eastern Shore added one on an RBI groundout from senior Mike Escanilla (Waldorf, Maryland), but that would be as close as they would get.
The split combined with a sweep by Norfolk State over Coppin State leaves the Hawks a half game back of the Eagles as the two prepare to meet head to head next weekend.
"We are a little close to earning the final playoff seed." O'Neil said. "Big weekend coming up."
But before that Maryland Eastern Shore will travel to Georgetown for a doubleheader with the Hoyas. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30p.m. at Shirley Povich Field in Bethesda.
