FREDERICK, Md. – The Hood College baseball team celebrated Senior Day as they entered a crucial series against MAC Commonwealth foe Widener, with late heroics in both ends of the doubleheader falling short in 5-2 and 11-10 losses on Saturday afternoon at FCC.
On the Mound
Aaron Heller (Philadelphia, Pa./Jack Barrack Hebrew Acad.) marked two innings allowing just two earned runs in his game one start.
Finn Scott-Daniels (Annandale, Va./Annandale) allowed two earned runs in five innings of work in the game two start.
Inside the Batter's Box
Sean Seely (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) had a six-RBI day collecting four hits coming up clutch for the Blazers.
Rhett Robbins (Frederica, Del./Lake Forest) racked up four hits of his own and scored four times.
AJ Haines (Arlington, Va./Bishop O'Connell) scored four times on the day and scored a pair of runners in the second game.
How it Happened – Widener 5, Hood 2
Widener jumped in front early, scoring twice in the top of the first. A leadoff single and a pair of RBI hits put Hood in a 2–0 hole before the Blazers could come to the plate. Widener then added to its lead in the third. A walk and a pair of singles, including a sacrifice fly and an RBI base hit, stretched the gap to 4–0.
Despite the four runs, Hood pitching settled in after the early damage as reliever
Tim Rio (Manassas, Va./Unity Reed) worked five steady innings, limiting Widener to make sure the game didn't get out of hand.
Hood began to show life in the middle innings. In the second and fourth, the Blazers put runners on with singles but were unable to convert, stranding runners in scoring position.
The breakthrough finally came in the sixth. After Robbins and Haines opened the frame with back-to-back singles, Seely delivered and lined a two-run single into right field to bring the Blazers within 4–2.
Widener responded with a solo home run in the top of the seventh to reclaim a three-run cushion.
How it Happened – Widener 11, Hood 10
Game two turned into a back-and-forth offensive battle, but Hood again found itself playing from behind early. Widener scored twice in the first inning, capitalizing on a double, a walk, and a throwing error to take a quick 2–0 lead.
Hood responded in the fourth.
Kamari Chisolm (Gainesville, Va./Bishop O'Connell) singled and scored after advancing into scoring position and crossing the plate by taking advantage of a Blazer batters' dropped third strike head first into home to cut the deficit to 3–1.
Scott-Daniels settled to bend but not break as base runners would reach in each inning, the senior would work his out of jams such as knocking down a line drive and tossing the third out of the first inning and getting the final two batters to fly out in the fifth.
However, Widener kept applying pressure and added runs especially a five-run sixth inning pushing the advantage to 9–1.
Facing a large deficit, Hood mounted an aggressive response in the bottom of the sixth.
Quade Gannon (Felton, Del./Lake Forest) singled, and after another hit, Haines ripped a two-run double to right center. Seely followed with an RBI single, trimming the Widener lead to 9–4.
Widener added a run in the seventh, but Hood refused to yield just as they had proved throughout the series. In the eighth, the Blazers struck again. Robbins doubled, and Hood pieced together consecutive RBI singles from Seely and Broughton to make it a four-run game at 10–6.
The ninth inning produced as advertised, Chisolm singled to lead off and Robbins followed with another hit. With a Haines walk, the bases were loaded. Seely then delivered yet again, driving in two more runs with a single up the middle. Moments later, Broughton skied a doubled down the right-field line to plate two more, pulling Hood all the way to 11–10 with the tying run at the plate. Despite the furious comeback, Widener forced a fly ball to conclude yet another Blazer late push.
Notes
Hood falls to 15-20, 9-9 in conference play and still sits in third place just one game ahead of Eastern and York Pa..
Widener improves to 18-16, 12-6 in conference play and has clinched a berth in the MAC Commonwealth playoffs.
Up Next
Hood will close the MAC Commonwealth hunt with a three-game series with Albright starting on Friday, April 24 in Reading, Pennsylvania with first pitch set for 3:30 p.m. before traveling to Mount St. Mary's to host the Lions in the most important doubleheader of the series to determine a playoff berth.
