Love and Rolewicz Each Drive In Three Runs

ST. MARY'S CITY, MD – The Washington College baseball team escaped a second and third, one-out jam in the bottom of the ninth to fend off host St. Mary's (MD), 12-11, on Tuesday afternoon at the Hawk's Nest in non-conference baseball action.  The Shoremen improve to 9-6, while the Seahawks fall to 13-10.

Washington entered the bottom of the ninth with a 12-10 lead.  Brad Shepherd struck out to lead off the bottom of the frame, but reached first base on a wild pitch.  He was then pinch-ran for by Mike Schmidt.  The next batter, Bobby Corton singled through the right side and Schmidt moved to third to put runners on the corners.  Corton would move up to second on a sacrifice bunt off the bat of Matt Baden to put runners on second and third with one away.  Mark Dattilio singled through the left side to bring in Schmidt to cut the WC lead to 12-11 with Corton advancing to third and Dattilio was on first base as the winning run.  The Shoremen would put in sophomore pitcher Kyle Aldrich (Warren, NJ/Watchung Hills Regional) to get the final two outs and the win.  Eric Skryzniarz entered the game for Dattilio as a pinch-runner and would steal second base to put the winning run in scoring position.  Aldrich would strike out Corey Napier for the second out and got Keith Johnson to ground out to third base for the final out to allow the Shoremen to hold on for the victory.

Washington wasted little time getting on the board as the posted three runs in the top of the first inning to grab a 3-0 lead.  Freshman Nick Marinelli (Ellicott City, MD/Marriotts Ridge) tripled to right-center to lead off the game and scored on an infield single off the bat of junior John Rolewicz (Bear, DE/Salesianum) to put the guests up 1-0.  Rolewicz would dent the plate on a triple down the right field line by junior Ryan Normoyle (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) to give WC a 2-0 lead.  Normoyle would score on a base hit through the left side by freshman Mike Love (Woodstown, NJ/Woodstown). 

The Seahawks answered right back with three runs in their half of the first, all coming with two outs on RBI singles by Joey Kavanaugh to left field, Nick Urso to left field and Ian Simpson-Shelton through the left side respectively to even the game at 3-3 after one frame.

The Shoremen netted two runs in the top of the second to grab a 5-3 lead on a two-out single through the left side by junior Ben Jardot (McLean, VA/Flint Hill School) that chased in Rolewicz and Normoyle. 

St. Mary's scored twice in the bottom of the second to even the game at 5-5.  Corton crossed home on a wild pitch to cut it 5-4 and Napier singled to third base to send in Baden to knot the game.

After both teams went scoreless in the third inning, the Shoremen scored twice in the top of the fourth to take a 7-5 lead on a two-out, two-run single by Love up the middle that brought in junior Dwight Wilcox (Annapolis, MD/St. Mary's) and sophomore Tyler Cotterell (Lincroft, NJ/Middletown South).

The Seahawks grabbed their first lead of the afternoon with a three-run sixth inning to take an 8-7 lead.   Dattilio smacked a two-run double to drive in Corton and Shepherd to tie the game at 7-7 with two away.  The next batter, Napier, doubled to left and knocked in Dattilio to put St. Mary's up 8-7.

Washington scored five times in the top of the seventh to take a 12-8 lead.  Rolewicz gave WC the lead back with a two-run double down the right field line to put the Shoremen up 9-8 as Love and freshman Ian Remington (Guilford, CT/Guilford) scored.  Two batters later, Wilcox cranked a three-run double to left field to drive in Marinelli, Rolewicz and Normoyle and give WC a four-run cushion.  The hosts scored once in the bottom of the seventh when Baden drove in Shepherd on a two-out single through the left side to cut the lead to 12-9.

St. Mary's reduced the lead to 12-10 in the bottom of the eighth when Napier scored on a sacrifice fly to left field off the bat of Urso.  It was a two-run lead for Washington entering the last half of the ninth.

Love went 3-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored while Rolewicz went 2-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored.  Wilcox and Normoyle both tallied two hits with Wilcox plating a career-high three teammates and Normoyle scoring three times.  Jardot chased home two Shoremen.  The Shoremen pounded out 14 hits in the victory.  On the mound, freshman pitcher Ben Cameron (Laurel, MD/Reservoir) tossed 1 1/3 innings of relief to gain his first collegiate win and is now 1-1 on the year.  Aldrich retired the final two batters to record his first collegiate save.

Remington had his 11-game hitting streak and nine straight games of two or more hits come to an end in the win.

For the Seahawks, Baden, Dattilio, Napier and Corton all had two hits with Baden, Napier, Corton and Shepherd scoring two times.  Dattilio netted three RBI in the contest, while Napier and Urso both had two RBI on the afternoon.  Adam Shenk took the loss for St. Mary's (MD) on the hill and falls to 0-1.

Washington has now won three straight against its in-state rival and leads the all-time series 20-11-1.

The Shoremen are scheduled to return to action tomorrow afternoon with a 3:30 p.m. non-conference home game against Catholic.