SALISBURY, Maryland – It was a tale of two games as the Maryland Eastern Shore baseball team hosted Delaware State University on Friday (March 25) at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium in Salisbury. The Hawks jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first inning of game one, taking a decisive 15-0 win and held a solid 4-2 lead after the fifth in game two but allowed three unanswered runs and fell 5-4.
 
Game One
 
The Hawks dominated in all three phases in the first game of the doubleheader, with pitcher Evan Nibblett picking up his second win of the season, the Hawks smacking 11 hits and only committing one error that didn't hurt the team.
 
"The good thing is we played really good defense," head coach Brian Hollamon. "Evan Nibblett pitched a heck of a game – threw strikes, dominated hitters – he was very good the whole time."
 
In the first inning the Shore took advantage of two errors by starting pitcher Evan Harris on sacrifice bunts that not only allowed runners on but also put the Hawks in position to score. During the inning, Brian Cordell and Riley Horner scored when Bryan Widdowson laid the first sacrifice down before being driven in by Kyle Cincinnati when he walked with the bases loaded.
 
Marcus Brown drove in two more runs with a single to right field to make it 5-0, Nick Roets added two more with a double to left and Widdowson drove in another when he hit a sacrifice fly to score Roets, making it 8-0 in an inning that took over half an hour.
 
"Our guys were swinging the bat well," Hollamon said. "We got a bunch of hits throughout the lineup, there wasn't one guy specifically, it was guys executing up and down, top to bottom."
 
The Shore would tack on runs throughout the rest of the seven-inning game with apparent ease. Cincinnati drove in a run in the second with a fielder's choice to short. In the fourth Brown hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Brantley Cutler, Roets had his third RBI of the game with a single in the inning and Cordell would score both with a right field single, making it 13-0.
 
Two more runs were scored in the bottom of the sixth when Widdowson hit a RBI double to drive in Derrick Mayes, then KJ Brooks got his first career RBI with a fielder's choice to score Zach Garcia – sealing the deal at 15-0.
 
Game Two
 
It was a much closer game in the latter half of the doubleheader where the Hawks held a lead going into the final frame before allowing Delaware State to make a comeback.
 
The Hornets struck first with a two-run homer by Alan Alonso, the third batter of the game, against starter Cameron Bratton. Offensively the Hawks battled back though, with a run in the bottom of the inning when Widdowson drove in Cordell from third on a double play.
 
Bratton settled down in the second, inducing two flyouts and a swinging strikeout in the inning, the second of his five in the game.
 
"He only gave up one hit going into the sixth, we were extremely pleased with how he approached things," Hollamon said.
 
The Shore scored a run to tie the game up 2-2 in the bottom of the third when Widdowson drove in Cordell during a fielder's choice and error by the Hornets shortstop. For the whole day, Cordell went five for eight with a walk, driving in three and scoring three himself.
 
"Cordell's going to get hot, we've made some adjustments and he feels comfortable," Hollamon said. "Comfort's the name of the game, once you start getting comfortable, you'll start playing better."
 
Two more runs were scored by the Hawks in the fourth when small-ball play was able to manufacture a lead. Roets singled on a bunt intended as a sacrificed but was so well hit the Hornets had no play, driving in Cincinnati, and then Cordell bunted over the pitchers head to drive in Brown, making it 4-2 Hawks.
 
Bratton found himself in trouble in the top of the sixth, when the bases were loaded and there was just one out. Blake Rebstock came in from the pen and settled the fire, allowing just a single runner to score on a sacrifice fly to left before inducing a pop out caught by third baseman Ryan Davis.
 
The game looked sealed up in the top of the seventh with two out and none on for the Hornets, but a pair of timely singles for Delaware State would tie the game at 4-4. Nothing was working for the Shore in the bottom of the frame following a base running gaffe and a pair of strikeouts.
 
Unfortunately for the Hawks, the Hornets ended up putting together what would be the winning run in the eighth with a single and a sacrifice bunt to put a runner in scoring position, then a single to right drove in a run making it 5-4. The Shore had no answer in the bottom of the inning, going three up, three down and sealing game two.
 
"It was a good baseball game, that's how they're all supposed to be played," Hollamon said. "It comes down to the last innings, sometimes you end up on the right side sometimes you end up on the wrong side."
 
Saturday Adjustments
 
Originally the series was to be played in 1-2-1 fashion, but incoming weather has made scheduling changes. With two games down, Saturday (March 26) will still be a doubleheader, the change being in a 1 p.m. start time for the matchups.
 
Follow the action on Twitter via @eshawksbase.