DOVER, Delaware – For the first time in the 2022 season, the Maryland Eastern Shore baseball team was unable to get a win during a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference doubleheader, dropping two games to Delaware State University. The Hawks (16-34, 15-17 MEAC) dropped game one 3-4 and game two 2-4 at Bob Reed Field in Dover, Delaware.
 
The losses keep the Hawks at second in the conference.
 
Game One
 
It was a pitcher's duel through much of the first game, with both starters allowing just a combined three hits until the top of the fifth inning. Hawks starter Evan Nibblett would end the game with seven strike outs with no walks, while Hornets starter Krew Bouldin consistently induced soft contact, striking out just one.
 
The game broke out in the top of the fifth when Brantley Cutler was hit by a pitch with one out. Two batters later, reigning MEAC Rookie of the Week Kyle Cincinnati would smack his first collegiate home run over left center to make it a 2-0 game.
 
Del State got a run back in the bottom of the frame, when Mike Worthington reached first and then found himself on third when Miguel Rivera hit a single. Trey Paige then grounded out but Worthington found himself crossing home to cut the Hawks lead in half.
 
In the top of the seventh the Hawks grabbed another run to stretch the lead when Cutler hit his fourth home run of the season.
 
Looking to close the game out, Nibblett came out for the seventh but was unable to hold the lead when Rivera led off with a single and then Paige hit a home run over the center field wall, tying the game at three-all.
 
Blake Rebstock came in to attempt to keep the game in check but fell on hard luck, allowing a home run over the right field wall by fellow pitcher Bouldin, giving the Hornets a walk-off win.
 
 
Game Two
 
The Hawks found themselves down early in the second half of the doubleheader, with starter Cameron Bratton allowing back-to-back leadoff hits to start the game before walking the bases loaded. Bratton threw a wild pitch and then balked, giving the Hornets two runs without lifting their bats, then a two-run Alec Rodriguez home run put the Hawks down by four runs.
 
Bratton settled down over the next two innings, allowing just two singles and inducing a double play following a fielding error at third.
 
Working with two-out magic, the Hawks loaded the bases in the fourth with a single, a walk and a hit by pitch. With Derrick Mayes II at bat, Del State Evan Harris went wild, scoring Brian Cordell from third to put some life in the Hawks. Bratton would sit down the Hornets in order during the bottom of the frame.
 
Keeping up the offense, the Hawks were able to grab another run in the fifth when Riley Horner led off with a walk and reached second on a failed pickoff attempt from the catcher. With two runners on after Luke Myers walked, Ryan Howe lifted a pitch out to shallow center, scoring Horner and cutting Del State's lead in half.
 
Those runs would be all the Hawks got in the game, as reliever Mike Carrington shut down the Hawks hitters as Bratton did the same to the Hornets.
 
The Shore is back in action on Friday (May 13) with a single game against Delaware State, first pitch is slated for 1 p.m., with the fourth game of the series still to be determined due to incoming weather.
 
Follow the action on Twitter via @ESHawksBase.