MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — The St. Mary’s College of Maryland baseball team built an early four-run lead but could not maintain it as Penn State Harrisburg rallied for a 12-5 United East Conference victory Tuesday afternoon at Nittany Field.
The Seahawks dropped to 7-15 overall and 3-4 in conference play. Penn State Harrisburg improved to 19-10 and remained undefeated at 7-0 in the United East.
St. Mary’s jumped ahead in the top of the first inning. Eli Shafer led off with a solo home run to left field. Rhett Fletcher drove in a run with a fielder’s choice, and Aaron Wathen delivered a two-run single to stake the visitors to a 4-0 advantage.
The Lions responded immediately in the bottom of the first and steadily chipped away. They scored twice in the third inning and added two more unearned runs in the fourth to take a 5-4 lead. Penn State Harrisburg then broke the game open with a three-run fifth inning that featured RBI singles from Nathan Lapp and James Quici plus a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch.
St. Mary’s trimmed the deficit with one run in the eighth on a Kaden Hnath RBI groundout. The Lions answered with four runs in the bottom of the eighth to seal the outcome.
Offensively, Shafer and Kody Adkins each collected two hits for the Seahawks. Kyle Catanzaro went 3-for-3 with a run scored. Wathen led the team with two RBIs. The Seahawks committed four errors and issued 11 walks, contributing to several unearned runs for the hosts.
On the mound, Colin Bashor took the loss, falling to 0-1. He allowed five runs, two earned, over four innings while striking out eight. Penn State Harrisburg starter Jack Maguire earned the win and improved to 2-1.
James Quici paced the Lions with a 3-for-4 performance and three runs scored. Blaine Waltimyer added three hits and two runs. The Lions capitalized on aggressive baserunning and defensive miscues by St. Mary’s.
The result completed a season series in which Penn State Harrisburg swept St. Mary’s. The Seahawks had fallen 14-4 to the Lions in an earlier conference meeting.
St. Mary’s College of Maryland, the public liberal arts institution located in Southern Maryland, competes in the United East Conference alongside several other regional programs. The baseball team draws local support from Charles, St. Mary’s and Calvert counties as it represents the area in NCAA Division III play.
The Seahawks return home to host Wilson College on Wednesday, April 15, for a single conference game. They will look to rebound and improve their conference standing as the season progresses.
Southern Maryland Chronicle has covered the Seahawks’ mixed results this spring, including a sweep of Rosemont College and tough losses to strong non-conference opponents such as Marymount and Christopher Newport. The program continues to build competitive experience in the United East while emphasizing development for student-athletes from the region.
