The College of Southern Maryland baseball team dropped both games in the season-opening doubles on March 6 against the Potomac State College of WVU Catamounts. The Hawks lost Game 1 with a score of 4-3 in seven innings and Game 2 with a score of 18-2 in five innings.
Third year player Trevor Drummond got the Hawks on the board first in Game 1 with an RBI sacrificial fly scoring second-year player Ethan Zorbaugh from third.
After Potomac State scored three races in its half of the fifth to go up 4-1, third-year player Peyton myers hit the first home run of the season for CSM in its half of the inning, a solo shot over the left field fence to bring the Hawks to within two. Second year player Eli wilhelm scored when a Potomac State pitcher tried to pick him out at second base, but the throw went into midfield so he could come all the way to make it 4-3.
Third year jar Dylan bell gave three solid rounds of work on the mound, and gave only three hits, two trips and one earned run while striking out two strokes.
“Dylan competes on the mound and always gives everything he has,” said head coach Aaron Michael. “We had the maximum number of tent pitches for all our players, and he was still strong when he reached that limit, which gives us great confidence to expand his next trip for a stronger outcome.
“Meanwhile, Peyton gave us a huge boost with the home race in Game 1, while Trevor gave us the lead in every game with a first-half RBI.”
Drummond got his second RBI for the day when he drove in a first-year student Jordan mckenzie with a single in the first half of Game 2 to put CSM up to 1-0.
The wheels fell off for the Hawks in the third, but when they gave up nine runs to the Catamounts to fall into a 12-1 hole, they would not be able to climb out of.
CSM got a race back then first year student Layne Freese brought home first-year student Blake DiPietro from second base with a two-out RBI single to center in the fourth inning. DiPietro came in second after throwing out his base hit to the right field to lead the round.
Potomac State piled on six more races in the fifth to finish scoring for the day.
“We played a tough team very closely in Game 1, but failed to maintain our game level for the second competition, so we focus on getting consistent play in 14 innings,” said Michael.
“The positive we came from was that we can compete with the top teams, and with the unfortunate outcome of the second game, the silver color is that we managed to get many players into the game and evaluate them to help the coaching staff learn how to best use each player. ”
Whatever the outcome, Michael said it was definitely exciting to finally be back on the field and play a game after not having managed it in almost a year, but maybe we were a little too encouraged and tried to do too much, and to some extent we expected something above expectations, but it is important to get past the first trip and hopefully start preparing for the rest of the season. ”
The Hawks return to the diamond on March 13 when they host the CCBC Dundalk Lions for a double header. The first pitch in game 1 is set for dinner.