SALISBURY, Maryland – It was a tightly contested battle on Tuesday (March 22) when the Maryland Eastern Shore baseball team hosted the United States Naval Academy at Perdue Stadium, unfortunately the Hawks (3-14, 2-2 MEAC) were on the losing end of a 7-5 game to the Midshipmen (9-11, 1-3 Patriot).
The game was tied going into the ninth inning but a two-run double to center in the top of the frame was the deciding factor in the Shore loss.
"We could have executed a few things in the game a little better and we would have scored a few more runs too," head coach
Brian Hollamon said. "We had our chances."
Navy took an early lead with a leadoff home run by Zane Raba down the left field line off starter
Caden Parker. The lead didn't stick for long when
Brian Cordell walked in the bottom of the inning, quickly stole second and was advanced to third by a
Dillon Oxyer sacrifice bunt.
Bryan Widdowson then legged out a single to short, driving Cordell in to tie the game up at the same time.
Parker was victim to the longball again in the second, giving up another down the line to Zach Stevens and then was knocked around in the top of the third for two more runs, putting the game at 4-1.
The Shore showed fight in its half of the third, with Oxyer and
Brantley Cutler manufacturing a run when Oxyer walked and stole second, Cutler drove him in from third following a wild pitch with a sacrifice fly to left to make it 4-2.
John Killmon entered the game in relief of Parker in the fourth and was able to hold Navy scoreless the next two innings, while the offense threatened but left three on base in that inning.
"To win baseball games against good teams you've got to be able to execute those things at specific times," Hollamon said. "We came up a little short on a couple of those."
Chipping away, the Hawks drove in their third run of the game when Cutler led off the fifth with a double to left-center, advanced to third on a
Riley Horner sacrifice bunt and reached home when
Marcus Brown grounded out to short.
After Killmon's day was done after the fifth, freshman
Alec Greenblatt entered and threw some of his best stuff of the season, allowing just one run over the next three innings.
"We were throwing guys the way that we planned," Hollamon said. "We ran everybody out there the way that we planned on doing it."
The bottom of the seventh was big for the Hawks, scoring three runs in the inning to take a 5-4 lead against the Midshipmen. Widdowson led off with a single and was scored by a Cutler single, his second RBI of the afternoon, making it a one-run game. Brown, continuing to find his stroke, smacked a double to left, scoring two more to give the Shore a one-run lead after Horner drew a walk.
Navy was able to even the game up in the eighth when Alex Smith was able to use his speed to hit a double that most players wouldn't dare, then was driven in by a Stevens single, once again taking advantage of his agility.
The ninth would be the deciding factor in the game, when Navy took advantage of runners on the corners against
Ryan Davis (0-1) when a long flyball escaped over the glove of Widdowson in center to make it 7-5 in favor of the visitors. It wasn't in the cards to come back though for the Hawks, going down in order in the bottom of the inning.
"Unfortunately, we didn't catch that ball in center field," Hollamon said. "It cost us two runs but it's a tough play, it shouldn't always be a given."
It'll be another weekend of Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play as the Shore hosts Route 13 rival Delaware State in a four-game set starting on Friday (March 25) at 3 p.m., with a double header on Saturday (March 26) at noon and the finale on Sunday (March 27) at noon.
Follow along with the action and for updates on Twitter via @eshawksbase.
