ARLINGTON, Virginia – The University of Maryland Eastern Shore baseball team worked back from a deep deficit on the road at George Washington only for the rally to come up just short in the top of the ninth, falling to the Colonials 11-9 on Wednesday, February 22.
The loss drops the Hawks to 0-4 on the early season with their eyes now set on the home opener this coming weekend against Quinnipiac.
George Washington came out with the bats early, grabbing a run in both the first and second, then a big three-run inning in the third to end
Noland Genies' first collegiate start. Genies threw 2.2 innings with four strike outs to two walks in his appearance.
Porter Braddy was able to keep the Colonials' bats in check with 1.1 innings of relief but
Alec Greenblatt took some lumps in the fifth following timely hitting by the home squad for four runs to put them up 9-0.
The Hawks strung together great plate appearances in the sixth, loading the bases following a trio of walks and a fielder's choice. In his first game of the season,
Ryan Howe proceeded to hit a single, driving
Derrick Mayes II and
Riley Horner in for the Hawks first two runs of the day.
Following two more walks,
Zach Garcia put up a sacrifice fly to score Howe for his first RBI as a Hawk and
Doyle McNew followed up with a single to drive in
Alex McCoy to cut the Colonials' lead to 9-5.
The Colonials were able to grab a run back in the bottom of the frame against Greenblatt and another on Gary Hallmen Jr. in the seventh but were held scoreless by
Brandon Gomez in the eighth despite finding himself in a jam following three walks.
Down by six in the ninth, the Hawks got a rally going in attempts to steal back the game when Howe hit a one-out double to score Horner and
Carter Rieben.
Marcus Brown then singled to score Howe only for the chances of a comeback to be shot down by a strikeout with the tying runs on base.
Horner continues his hot start on the season, going 2-for-3 with two walks and two runs, while Howe needed no time to get back into game shape by going 3-for-5 with four RBIs.
The Hawks are back in action with a doubleheader against Quinnipiac for the home opener in Salisbury on Friday, February 24, game one is set for 11:00 AM.
Follow the action on Twitter via @ESHawksBase.
