St. Mary’s City, Md. – The St. Mary’s College of Maryland baseball team dropped two to Salisbury University on Friday afternoon in Capital Athletic Conference action. St. Mary’s (9-10, 2-7 CAC) fell 12-1 and 11-7 in 10 innings to the Salisbury Sea Gulls (18-7, 7-2 CAC), who received votes in two national polls this week.

How It Happened (Game 1)

  • Salisbury ace Connor Reeves and reliever Jack Cheney held the Seahawk bats in check, scattering just four hits and striking out eight batters over the nine innings.
  • The Sea Gull offense was powered by three-run rallies in the third and ninth innings.
  • Four different players collected hits for St. Mary’s, including a pair of pinch hits by senior Bennett Garner (Bowie, Md./Bowie) and sophomore Timmy Prenger (Phoenix, Md./Calvert Hall).
  • Lone run for the Seahawks came in the ninth when first-year Diego Grijalva (Leesburg, Va./Heritage) drew a bases loaded walk to bring home Garner, who hit a leadoff single.

Game 1 Stats

  • Hits: St. Mary’s 4, Salisbury 14
  • Errors: St. Mary’s 2, Salisbury 2
  • Left on Base: St. Mary’s 7, Salisbury 9

St. Mary’s Offensive Leaders

Salisbury Offensive Leaders

  • Jay Perry: 3-for-3, 1 run scored, 3 RBI, 1 double, 1 hit by pitch, 1 sac fly
  • Scott Ardoin: 3-for-5, 2 runs scored, 1 stolen base
  • Jack Barry: 2-for-4, 1 run scored, 1 RBI, 1 double, 1 hit by pitch
  • Justin Meekins: 2-for-5, 1 run scored, 1 RBI, 2 stolen bases

St. Mary’s Pitching

  • Will Spanoghe: 5.0 IP, 10 hits, 7 earned runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts (L, 1-3)
  • Tim Hand: 2.0 IP, 3 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts
  • Matt Henigan: 2.0 IP, 1 hit, 3 earned runs, 3 walks, 1 strikeout

Salisbury Pitching

  • Connor Reeves: 6.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts (W, 7-2)
  • Jack Cheney: 3.0 IP, 2 hits, 1 earned run, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts

Inside the Box Score

  • First-year RHP Will Spanoghe (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary’s – Annapolis) dropped to 1-3 on the season, allowing seven runs on 10 hits in 5.0 innings of work with two strikeouts and a walk.
  • Junior RHP Tim Hand (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown) notched a career-best two strikeouts in 2.0 innings of relief.

How It Happened (Game 2)

  • The Sea Gulls broke a 7-7 draw in the 10th with four runs. Ron Villone drew a leadoff walk and scored on a bases loaded hit by pitch to Dillon Waters. Then Simon Palenchar scored on a wild pitch and Jack Barry came home on a passed ball to put Salisbury up 10-7. Waters scored the final run on a sacrifice fly by Jay Perry.
  • Junior outfielder Dakota Merritt (Lexington Park, Md./Great Mills) reached base on a Salisbury error to start the 10th but then Barry retired the side in order to end the rally before it got going.
  • Salisbury owned a 4-1 lead through four innings before the Seahawks plated four in the fifth to claim their first lead of the day, a 5-4 edge. St. Mary’s four-run rally was keyed by a pair of RBI singles from Garner and first-year DH Joey Bryner(Leonardtown, Md./St. Mary’s Ryken) as well as a RBI double from redshirt sophomore infielder Jay Hammett (Coltons Point, Md./Chopticon).
  • Each side scored once in the sixth to maintain the one-run Seahawk advantage.
  • A sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch allowed the Sea Gulls to score twice in the eighth and regain the lead at 7-6 before Merrittscored on a wild pitch after drawing a leadoff walk, advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt, and going to third on a single by junior outfielder Lucas Kraft (Boyds, Md./Clarksburg).
  • Each pitcher faced four batters in the ninth and yielded no hits in keeping the game tied at 7-7 to force an extra inning.
Photo Credit: Bill Wood

Game 2 Stats

  • Hits: St. Mary’s 13, Salisbury 11
  • Errors: St. Mary’s 3, Salisbury 2
  • Left on Base: St. Mary’s 9, Salisbury 12

St. Mary’s Offensive Leaders

Salisbury Offensive Leaders

  • Matt Padeway: 2-for-3, 1 RBI
  • Jack Decker: 2-for-5, 1 RBI, 1 stolen base
  • Will Gutekunst: 2-for-5, 1 run scored, 1 double, 1 hit by pitch
  • Colby Dean: 2-for-6, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI, 1 double

St. Mary’s Pitching

  • Griffin Honse: 6.1 IP, 9 hits, 3 earned runs, 4 walks, 2 strikeouts
  • Tim Hand: 1.2 IP, 2 hits, 2 earned runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts
  • Jay Hammett: 1.1 IP, 0 hits, 3 earned runs, 3 walks, 0 strikeouts (L, 0-1)
  • Noah Meyers: 0.2 IP, 0 hits, 0 earned runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts

Salisbury Pitching

  • Jimmy Adkins: 4.1 IP, 8 hits, 4 earned runs, 0 walks, 7 strikeouts
  • Wes Whitlock: 0.2 IP, 2 hits, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts
  • Brady Thomas: 2.0 IP, 2 hits, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts
  • Jack Barry: 3.0 IP, 1 hit, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts (W, 2-2)

Inside the Box Score

  • Hammett and Kraft each tallied three hits to lead the Seahawks at the plate while Hammett (0-1) suffered the loss on the mound after giving up three earned runs in 1.1 innings of work.

Up Next for the Seahawks

  • Apr. 10 at York College of Pennsylvania (8-11-1, 1-4 CAC) – York, Pa. – CAC game – 3:45 p.m.

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By Nairem Moran · nmoran@smcm.edu