Aaron Michael won his 50th game as head coach of the College of Southern Maryland baseball team on March 30 when his Hawks beat the CCBC Essex Knights 7-1 in Game 1 of their doubleheader at CCBC Essex. The Hawks dropped Game 2 by a score of 6-5.
In Game 1, CSM jumped on the board first with a Peyton Myers RBI double to go up 1-0 in the first inning.
The Knights tied things up in the fourth inning when freshman pitcher Brandon Pelletier gave up his only run of the game on a sacrifice fly.
The Hawks regained the lead in the sixth inning when they drove in four runs. A bases-loaded sacrifice bunt by freshman Jayden Crawford and a bunt single by freshman Justin Aponte brought home the first two runs, then-freshman Michael Guy capped off the inning with a two-run single to put CSM ahead 5-1.
CSM added on two insurance runs in the seventh inning. Freshman Jordan McKenzie had an RBI triple and freshman Blake DiPietro had an RBI double.
Pelletier threw a seven-inning complete game for the Hawks. He gave up five hits and two walks while striking out four Knights.
Myers put CSM on top again in the first inning of Game 2, this time with a ground ball through the left side of the infield that brought home Trevor Drummond from second base.
The Hawks kept the Knights quiet until the fifth inning when they tied the game at 1-1 on a sacrifice fly.
CSM answered with a run in the top of the sixth when Drummond scored on another error by CCBC Essex on a fly ball to left field by Layne Freese.
The Knights took the lead they needed to secure the victory when they plated five runs in their half of the sixth to go up 6-2.
The Hawks mounted a rally in the top of the seventh, starting with a two-run double from Francis Segarra. A sharp ground ball from Myers got past the CCBC Essex third baseman and into left field to bring in Segarra, but CSM couldn’t come up with the tying run, splitting the doubleheader with the Knights.