The St. Mary’s College of Maryland baseball team opened their season on the road with a seven-inning contest against Virginia Wesleyan College. Despite an early lead, the Seahawks fell to the Marlins, 12-2, as Virginia Wesleyan pulled away late in the game.
St. Mary’s struck first in the top of the first inning when Cole Tarleton homered in his first at-bat of the season, giving the Seahawks a 1-0 advantage. Virginia Wesleyan responded quickly, scoring two runs across the first and second innings to take the lead. The Seahawks had scoring opportunities early but left two runners stranded in both the second and third innings, missing chances to regain control of the game.
In the fifth inning, St. Mary’s loaded the bases with two outs and capitalized on a sacrifice fly from Rhett Fletcher to bring home the tying run. Adrian Auber then drew a walk, reloading the bases for the Seahawks, but they were unable to push another run across before the inning ended.
Virginia Wesleyan took command in the final three innings, adding 10 runs to secure a decisive win. The Seahawks’ offense was unable to answer as the Marlins’ bats heated up late.
St. Mary’s had five players record a hit, including Tarleton, Fletcher, Auber, Corey Brown, and George Berbakos. Tarleton and Fletcher accounted for the team’s two RBIs.
Starting pitcher Jordan Bonhoff took the loss, working two and a third innings while facing 17 batters. Tommy Brill provided three innings of relief, striking out two and allowing two earned runs.
The Seahawks will look to bounce back in their next contest on March 1, when they face Marymount at 3:00 p.m. in Arlington, Virginia.
