SUMMARY

The Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks split the doubleheader with the Manhattan Jaspers, earning their first victory of the season and first win at newly renovated Hawk Stadium.

GAME 1: De Jesus' strong start not enough as Jaspers come back from four runs down to stun Hawks in extra innings

THE SCORE (Final 10 Innings)

Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (0-8) - 4

Manhattan Jaspers (5-4) - 6

(Manhattan leads 2-0)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Maryland Eastern Shore dominated the first five innings of the game on both defense and offense. Starting pitcher Richard De Jesus tallied five strikeouts across 5.1 scoreless innings on the mound, yielding just three hits in his outing. 

In the second frame, UMES scored the first run of the game on a Jonathan Rodriguez RBI single to left center field. In the following inning, Julian Jimenez drove in Ansel Carson to double UMES' advantage. Leading 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth, Diego Guerrero drove in two more runs for the Hawks on a single, giving the Maroon and Grey a four-run advantage.

After both teams were held scoreless in the fifth and sixth innings, Manhattan began a stretch of six unanswered runs in the seventh frame. Trailing 4-2 in the ninth, the Jaspers recorded two crucial runs to force the game into extra innings. Manhattan stacked two runs in the 10th while UMES was held scoreless, icing a comeback victory for the Jaspers.

THE NUMBERS

The Hawks scored four runs on eight hits and one error while the Jaspers amassed six runs on 12 hits and no errors

De Jesus recorded 5.1 innings in his start, this is the longest outing of any Hawk starter this season

Esteban Torres struck out five batters across 3.2 relief innings. Torres has pitched two or more innings in all three of his relief outings

Carson (2-for-3) and Amari Hackett (2-for-4) each recorded multi-hit games

Diego Guerrero finished 1-for-2 with a team-high two RBI

The Hawks lineup drew seven walks while only striking seven times as a team. Comparatively, Manhattan drew four walks while striking out 12 times.

GAME 2: Jimenez' two-hit game guides Hawks to first victory of the season

THE SCORE (Final 7 Innings)

Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (1-8) - 8

Manhattan Jaspers (5-5) - 2

(Manhattan wins series 2-1)

HOW IT HAPPENED

After a scoreless opening inning by starting pitcher Cade Williams, UMES took the lead for good in the home half of the first frame. Jonathan Gonzalez Perez drove in the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly before Julian Jimenez raced to home plate to score on a wild pitch to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead. Amari Hackett then continued UMES' momentum by driving in Diego Aponte while Jonathan Rodriguez's RBI double in  the following at bat capped off a four-run first inning.

Although Manhattan scored a run in the second inning, the Maroon and Grey, highlighted by an RBI-single from Aponte and another sacrifice fly by Gonzalez Perez, responded with a pair of runs in the second frame to pull ahead 6-1. Williams and the Hawk defense stranded a combined six runners on the base paths in his scoreless third and fourth innings on the mound, allowing the Hawks to expand their lead to seven runs with an RBI walk from Darrius Brown and an RBI double from Jimenez.

Despite the Jaspers tacking on a run in the beginning of the fifth frame, 2.2 scoreless innings from Janluis Santiago out of the bullpen stymied Manhattan from generating another comeback effort. Santiago closed the game with two straight innings of facing the minimum en route to the Hawks' first win of the season, 8-2.

THE NUMBERS

The Hawks amassed eight runs on seven hits and no errors while the Jaspers recorded two runs on eight hits and no errors.

Williams was credited with the win, striking out two across 4.1 innings of work

Santiago finished with 2.2 innings out of the bullpen, striking out one while facing just one batter over the minimum

Jimenez paced UMES with a team-high two hits in the game, finishing 2-for-3 with a double, RBI, and a pair of runs scored 

Carson finished 1-for-1 with three runs scored and three walks. The senior second baseman reached base in eight of his nine plate appearances in the doubleheader

UMES' eight runs was the second highest run total for the Hawks this season. UMES scored 10 runs on opening day against La Salle on Feb. 13

The Hawks drew 11 walks as a team while striking out just five times.

WHAT WAS SAID

UP NEXT

The Hawks stay in Princess Anne to take on Siena at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 3. The game will be streamed on YouTube and live stats will be available on umeshawksports.com.

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