SUMMARY
The Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks dropped the series finale to the La Salle Explorers 7-4 at Hank DeVincent Field.
THE SCORE
Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (0-3) - 4
La Salle Explorers (3-0) - 7
(Explorers win series 3-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED
La Salle and UMES traded scoreless innings until the top of the third inning when Diego Aponte drove in the first run of the day for the Hawks on a sacrifice fly. The explorers then responded in the home-half of the inning, taking the lead with three runs on two home runs. Leading 3-1, La Salle tallied two more runs in the fifth inning on an RBI single and an RBI groundout to expand their lead to four runs.
The Maroon and Grey rallied in the top of the seventh inning, scoring a trio of runs in the frame. First, Julian Jimenez scored a run off of a La Salle fielding error to get the Hawks within three runs. Jonathan Gonzalez Perez then made the Explorers pay for their mistake by crushing a two-run homer over the left field wall.
Leading 5-4, La Salle answered UMES's two-run homer with a two-run blast of their own in the home-half of the seventh inning to pull ahead 7-4. La Salle's pitching went on to cement the win, blanking the Hawks in the eighth and ninth innings en route to their third-straight victory.
THE NUMBERS
The Hawks finished with four runs on six hits and one error while the Explorers finished with seven runs on seven hits and one error.
In his first collegiate start on the mound, Henry Clausell recorded 4.2 IP with three strikeouts. Clausell's 4.2 innings was the longest outing of the series for the UMES pitching staff.
Carter Champey recorded two scoreless innings out of the bullpen, striking out two.
Gonzalez Perez went 2-for-3 at the plate with a team-high two RBI and a home run. He leads the Hawks with two home runs on the season.
Diego Aponte led the Hawks in hits this series, finishing 5-for-10 at the plate with a double and three RBI
UP NEXT
The Hawks (0-3) travel to Lexington, VA, for a three-game series starting on Feb. 20 against VMI (4-0). Games one and three of the series will be streamed on ESPN+. In addition, live stats will be available for all three games at vmikeydets.com.
FOLLOW ALONG
Keep up with the latest from UMES baseball on UMESHawkSports.com and by following along on X (@UMESHawkBase) and Instagram (@umeshawkbase).
