FREDERICK, Md. – Needing a win to guarantee a spot in the conference tournament, and two to take the No. 3 seed, the Hood College baseball team did their job, sweeping their doubleheader between Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth opponent 4-1 and 6-1 and securing their postseason spot.
On the Mound
Joe Alexander (Leesburg, Va./Loudoun County) pitched a full seven innings in game one, allowing just one earned run and striking out seven.
Dutch DeProspero (Leesburg, Va./Loudoun County) got the win in the second game, only allowing one run and two hits while whiffing eight batters.
At the Plate
Matthew Stout (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) finished the day hitting 5-7, driving in three runs.
Austin Rhue (Milton, Del./Cape Henlopen) officially went 1-1 in game one, drawing two walks and smacking a triple in the second game.
Cameron Day (Hagerstown, Md./Clear Spring) went 4-9 on the afternoon, including a perfect 2-2 with a walk in the first game, scoring twice himself, and totaling two RBIs.
Hood 4, Albright 1
Both teams went down in order to start the game, but Hood managed to get on the board in the second when a deep single from
Sebastian Paz (Miami, Fla./Immaculata-La Salle) allowed Day to score from second.
Tyler Schwarzman (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg) was the man the team was looking for in the next inning, as he was the only player to get a hit that frame, but managed to round the bases through steals and sacrifices before ultimately scoring after a pitch got by the catcher and giving the Blazers a 2-0 lead.
It looked like Albright might take the lead dramatically in the fifth inning, as the Lions loaded the bases with their first three batters. Alexander was determined to get himself out of his own jam though, forcing a weak grounder for a force out at home and striking out the next batter. The constant rain had to come into play at some point though, and it did so on a low pitch to the next batter, skittering below
Jacob Saylor (Walkersville, Md./Walkersville) to the backstop to allow the Lions their first run of the game. Alexander made up for the mistake right away, striking the batter out to end the inning and making sure the one run was Albright's only.
Hood doubled their run total in the bottom of the inning, taking a 4-1 advantage with just six outs to go. Each squad went three-up-three-down in the sixth, and although the Lions looked like they were ready to roar back again, they would ground into a double play to end the game.
Hood 6, Albright 1
The Blazers decided not to wait an inning to get things going in game two, as they plated a runner in each of the first two innings for a 2-0 lead through as many innings.
While weather seemed like it would be an issue, with the rain coming down harder as the game went on, it almost seemed to affect the hitters more than the fielders, as neither team could get anyone across for three straight innings before Albright
managed to get on the board in the top of the sixth.
Harrison Ludington (Woodbridge, Va/Forest Park High School) was brought in in the eighth inning to close the game out, and he started things off right, allowing just one batter to get on base before striking out the third out of the inning.
Ludington got some big help in the bottom of the eighth, as Hood blew the game open with a four-run spurt, almost batting around to take a 6-1 lead with three outs left.
Those three outs took approximately five minutes to get, as Ludington sent the Lions back to their den thoroughly beaten to get his first save of his career.
For the Opponent
Brenden Stuhltrager hit 3-5 across both games, with a double in game two.
Notes
The Blazers improve to 23-15 (12-9) to end the regular season, enough for the No. 3 seed in the MAC Commonwealth tournament, while the Lions finish their season 11-25 (5-16).
Up Next
Hood will face off against the No. 2 seeded Alvernia University in the first round of the MAC Commonwealth Championship, with dates and times to follow.
