FREDERICK, Md. – The Senior Day festivities were not enough to help rally the Hood College baseball team over Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth opponent Eastern University, as the Blazers fell 4-3 in game one and 11-8 in game two.
At the Plate
Jack Patterson (Boyds, Md./Northwest) showed out, hitting 5-9 with five RBIs, a double, and two triples across both games.
Rhett Robbins (Frederica, Del./Lake Forest) batted 2-3 in game one.
Ty Broughton (Charles Town, W.Va./Washington) went 3-5 in the nightcap, hitting a double and driving in three runs.
James Gruenfelder (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Earl L. Vandermulen) hit 2-4 with a walk and an RBI in the second game.
On the Mound
Skylar Albright (Hendersonville, N.C./Hendersonville) struck out four but took the game one loss.
Mason Potter (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge) allowed just two hits in three innings in relief during game two.
Eastern 4, Hood 3
Although the Blazers threatened early with runners on second and third in the bottom of the first, they would not be able to push them across, allowing the Eagles to draw first blood in the top of the second with a two-RBI double.
Despite the third inning starting innocently enough, with Broughton getting on base after being hit by a pitch, Patterson came in and smoked a ball to deep center field that sent Broughton home and put himself easily on third with Eastern's lead cut in half.
A deep fly ball from
Amrit Brown (Asheville, N.C./Asheville) could not split the gap between defenders though, and Hood ended the inning still down 2-1.
Albright got into a jam in the fourth with the bases loaded and no outs but managed to limit the damage to just two runs as the Eagles rebuilt their lead 4-1.
The Blazers were able to score another run in the bottom of the fifth when a deep single from Patterson drove in Robbins, but another runner in scoring position would be left stranded as the next batter flied out to end the inning.
Needing a spark to get things going down 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth,
Jonathan Tyndall (Felton, Del./Lake Forest) led off with a single and managed to get to second on a hard-hit ball to the pitcher.
Keegan Brennan (Lake Wynonah, Pa./Nativity BVM) traded places with him to make it a 4-3 ball game with just one out, and Broughton worked a walk to load the bases with two outs, but the next batter popped up to second base to end the rally early.
Neither team could get any baserunners in the seventh inning, with Hood's final batter looking at a called strike three to end the game 4-3 in favor of the Eagles.
Eastern 11, Hood 8
Both teams seemed to agree to do something about the lack of scoring in the previous game, as they matched the previous run total for both teams by the bottom of the second inning, with the Blazers trailing 4-2 after not capitalizing on more runners in scoring position with no outs.
Eastern added another run in the top of the third inning, but a five-hit inning from Hood drove three runners across to tie the game at 5-5.
Unfortunately, the Blazers started running cold as the Eagles got hot, with the visitors putting up a three-spot in the fifth and sixth innings and suddenly jumped out to an 11-5 advantage.
Patterson's second triple of the day scored a run in the bottom of the seventh, but Hood would only manage two more runs in the bottom of the eighth, finishing the day going three-up-three-down in the bottom of the ninth for an 11-8 loss.
For the Opponent
Thomas Kozlusky went 4-8 on the day, hitting a home run in game two.
Leyton Bamesberger hit a home run in the second game.
Notes
Hood falls to 9-21 (5-9), while Eastern moves to 12-18 (5-9).
Up Next
The Blazers' next game is a strange one, making up the first game against Eastern as the away team at FCC Sunday, April 13 at 12 p.m.
