FARMVILLE, Virginia – The Maryland Eastern Shore baseball team walked off with a bitter taste in their mouths after falling to Longwood University on Friday (February 18). After sticking close to the Lancers (1-0) through four innings of play, the Hawks (0-1) began to unravel by having to atone for simple mistakes and ended up dropping their first game of the season 11-1 in seven innings.
 
Cameron Bratton (0-1) took the loss for the Hawks, putting in 4.2 innings of work and giving up two earned runs. The Shore offense outhit the Lancers until the sixth but couldn't find the timely hitting to offer Bratton the run support needed.
 
"You gotta get a big hit," head coach Brian Hollamon said. "We get on base, we get in scoring position and we just can't get that one hit that breaks open the game."
 
Mistakes happened quickly for the Hawks, with the Shore gifting Longwood an easy run following an error and sac fly to center to have the Lancers up 1-0.
 
Bratton was able to find a groove the next two innings, only facing the minimum in the second and third as the Shore offense was able to poke a few hits but unable to get any runs.
 
"He responded the way I thought he was going to respond," pitching coach Shawn Phillips said. "He's a guy we're going to rely on. We always preach to be in attack mode – he went out there, shook it off and put up two zeroes in the second and third, that's what I expect from him."
 
Scoring the first run for the Hawks in nearly two years was catcher Tyler Woodward on his second hit of the game, booming a homer run over the left center wall to even up the game.
 
"It feels good, it was a big time in the game, I was excited," Woodward said. "I think a more signature run would be bunting a guy in from third but any which way we can get it done, that's what we do here."
 
Third baseman Andrew Revels was also solid on offense, slapping three singles in four at-bats.
 
"Unlucky stuff at times, but you make your own luck," Hollamon said. "You gotta make your own opportunities and when you make your opportunities you have to take advantage of it."
 
Things slowly unraveled following Woodward's home run, as the Lancers responded with one of their own in the bottom of the fourth before tacking on another off a double to make it 3-1.
 
The fifth inning would begin to put the dagger in, as the Hawks defense was plagued with errors and ill-luck, including losing a ball in left center due to a harsh late-winter sunset.
 
"We compounded mistakes in the latter part of the game," Hollamon said. "It was more because they were worried about chasing the other team, rather than just doing their job – it makes things tight sometimes."
 
In the seventh inning the Hawks relievers were on the receiving end of some hard-hit balls that loaded up the bases. Following the 11^th run against the Hawks the game was called by the umpires for the Shore to reset and prep for tomorrow.
 
"That's what they did, they made some opportunities for themselves and took advantage of it," Hollamon said. "We did not."
 
The Hawks return to action on Saturday (February 19) as they take on Longwood at noon for the second game of their three-game set, junior Noah Covington will take the mound against Lancers freshman Kevin Warunek.