FARMVILLE, Virginia – Heading into the getaway game against Longwood University on Sunday afternoon the Maryland Eastern Shore baseball team looked to put together nine strong innings against its host. Through five and a half frames it seemed the Hawks (0-3) had put it together, but once again defensive gaffes and big hits against were the difference in the 15-9 loss to the Lancers (3-0).
 
"We played a very good beginning of the game – exactly the way we anticipated, we hit the ball extremely well, executed plays, pitched well," head coach Brian Hollamon said. "We made a couple of adjustments pitching wise and we made some mistakes in the latter part of the game and couldn't stop the bleeding."
 
Starter Evan Nibblett went five innings strong, giving up two runs, one earned in one of the best starts of his Hawk career.
 
"Felt really, good, really confident, out there having fun," Nibblett said. "After not being able to pitch for two years going out there and having fun, like I've been doing for my whole life."
 
It was only the second inning when the Hawks took advantage of a leadoff single by first baseman Alex McCoy, as Ryan Howe, catching for his second day in a row, knocked a home run over the left field wall to put the Shore up 2-0 early. Having a man in scoring position, Howe was looking for contact but came away with the two-run shot instead.
 
"With the man on third I was trying to score a run, get something in the outfield and score a run," Howe said. "I was reacting and stay through the ball, away – not trying to go long but get the guy across the plate."
 
Howe continued his big day in the bottom of the third, gunning down a would-be Lancer trying to steal second before continuing his offensive onslaught in the top of the fourth.
 
"Stayed through it and stuck with fundamentals – Nick Roets put down a hell of a tag," Howe said. "Guys up the middle that can help me out (go a long way)."
 
Once again with McCoy on base, the junior almost hit another home run but settled for a double off the left field wall to make it 3-0.
 
Making his first start of the season at the same field he made his first collegiate start, outfielder Brantley Cutler took advantage of two men on base with a sharp hit single to right, driving in Howe and fellow outfield Brian Cordell to give the Hawks a 5-0 lead in the fourth.
 
"It felt good to make a start where my career started off at in 2019," Cutler said. "Even though I took three years off it didn't feel like I missed a beat."
 
The Lancers got one back in the bottom of the frame with an unearned run off Nibblett but the Shore offense wasn't done when it was back up in the top of the fifth.
 
Taking advantage of mistakes by the Lancers, McCoy was able to walk in for a run before Cordell had a heads up play to score on an error to make it 7-1.
 
Nibblett would give up his first earned run of the season but a bunt by Tyler Woodward would score Andrew Revels from third base to pace the Lancer offense in the top of the sixth. It was Nibblett's last inning pitched but he was able to take what was working and plans on applying it to his next start, coming as soon as next weekend against Albany.
 
"(I was) locating the fastball really well," Nibblett said. "Later in the game getting the curveball over for the first pitch strike, changeup was the go-to pitch with two strikes."
 
With an 8-2 lead heading into the bottom of the frame, sophomore Alec Greenblatt  came in to relieve the senior. Unfortunately for the sophomore, the Hawk defense that had played so tight aside from a small error in the first began to unravel leading to an offensive outburst by Longwood.
 
In what seemed like a blink of an eye, the Hawks were suddenly behind 8-7 to the Lancers due to poor fielding and poor luck on where the ball was hit. Mistakes on the field were costly, but Greenblatt was taken long by a Lancer for a grand slam, putting them up 9-8 and taking the wind out of the sails of the Hawks.
 
"Before the grand slam we were in very good position to win the ball game," Hollamon said, "playing good solid D, hitting well, running the bases well, executing plays. You've got to play 27 outs – you can't take outs off or teams are going to take advantage of it."
 
The Hawks did all they could to battle back in the late innings, tacking on more run in the ninth but it was far from enough as the Lancers had found their groove and taken advantage of the mistakes, running the score up to 15-9 as the outs were up for the Shore.
 
While the team was unable to put together a full nine as Hollamon was hoping, signs of improvement were evident in the early innings and the team will look to take those positives into the four-day layoff.
 
The Shore will welcome Albany University to Shorebirds Stadium, the 2022 home of the Hawks, for a four-game set over three days starting on Friday (February 25). It will be just over two-years since the Great Danes have visited the Eastern Shore, taking two of three from the Hawks in 2020 just weeks before the program was shut down for Covid-19.