Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 FREDERICK, Md. – The Hood College baseball team split their 2024 opening day doubleheader with Elmira College, losing the first game 14-7, then shutting out the Soaring Eagles 6-0 in the second matchup.
At the Plate
Tyler Schwarzman (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg) led Hood in batting, going 5-7 on the day with a perfect 4-4 in game one, two RBIs, and five stolen bases.
Keegan Brennan (Lake Wynonah, Pa./Nativity BVM) embraced the Moneyball approach, going 1-1 and drawing three walks in game one, adding an RBI-double in game two.
Cristian Reyna (Fredericksburg, Va./Stafford) was a ball magnet, getting hit four times throughout the series.
On the Mound
Dutch DeProspero (Leesburg, Va./Loudoun County) started game two and struck out five batters through four innings, only allowing one hit through four innings, walking two.
Finn Scott-Daniels (Annandale, Va./Annandale) closed out game two with two strikeouts, only allowing one hit.
Frank Spaide (Bensalem, Pa./Conwell-Egan Catholic) took the game one loss, surrendering four runs off five hits through one inning
Elmira 14, Hood 7
Hood got off to a hot start in game one, with
Austin Rhue (Milton, Del./Cape Henlopen) drawing a walk and Schwarzman hitting him home with a double.
Stephen Sommer (Leesburg, Va./Loudoun) then scored Schwarzman with a single to left field, and Matt Stout singled Sommer home to round out the inning.
The Blazers struck again in the second, with
Alex Jenkins (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge) leading off with a walk, moving to third off a couple sacrifices before being singled in by Schwarzman.
Elmira got on the board in the third after Kaden Bolt got on base and stole second and third before being batted home.
The Soaring Eagles struck again in the top of the third, taking advantage of pitching miscues to tie the game at 4-4, but Hood then took advantage of Elmira errors in the bottom of the inning, with Rhue reaching base on an error then scoring on a past ball to retake the Blazers' lead.
Despite Elmira taking a one-run lead in the fifth inning, Hood tied it up and had the bases loaded with one out, but
Jacob Saylor (Walkersville, Md./Walkersville) struck out and a popup from Rhue hung in the air a second too long to end the inning early.
A five-run half-inning from the Soaring Eagles put the Blazers in a sizable hole, but they were only able to get one more run across in the final two innings while Elmira put up three more in the seventh to collect a wild 14-7 win.
Hood 6, Elmira 0
Pitching stole the show in game two, as Deprospero had a no-hitter through three innings before an Elmira single from Bolt ended his bid, but Bolt was caught stealing second and Deprospero retired two of the next three batters to end his afternoon.
Hood did not start well at the plate either, but managed to break the ice in the fourth inning when an
Amrit Brown (Asheville, N.C./Asheville) triple scored Reyna who had been hit by a pitch during his at-bat. A balk sent Brown home to give the Blazers a 2-0 lead
More lights-out pitching from Hood's bullpen kept the offense fresh for the fifth inning, as they managed to extend their lead to 5-0 with base RBIs from Brennan, Sommer, and
Sebastian Paz (Miami, Fla./Immaculata-La Salle).
The Blazers got one more run across when Brennan scored Schwarzman who had been hit by a pitch before stealing both second and third base.
Scott-Daniels was called in to close out the game, which he did so by striking out the first and last batter, with the latter keeping his bat on his shoulder for the final strike that completed Hood's 6-0 shutout.
For the Opponent
Bolt went 4-9 over both games, reaching on an error and a fielder's choice as well.
Erik Charnetski went 2-2 and scored thrice in game one, drawing a walk and getting hit by a pitch twice.
Nick Lees had four RBIs in game one
Notes
Hood and Elmira both start the 2024 season at 1-1.
Up Next
The Blazers stay home for a doubleheader against Ursinus College Saturday, February 24 at 12 and 3 p.m.
