Baseball Sweeps Weekend Series

Baseball Sweeps Weekend Series

Catonsville, MD- The Cardinals baseball team played their first home series of the season this weekend, and did so in convincing fashion. Catonsville played host to Sussex County Community College of New Jersey, and defeated them on Friday by a score of 7-3, and swept a doubleheader on Saturday by respective scores of 10-7 and 3-2. Pitching was key for the Cardinals over the weekend as their staff only allowed nine earned runs through all three games.

Game 1

Sophomore Travis Weaver got the start on the mound in game one on Friday afternoon, and was dominant throughout. The right-hander threw six innings of shutout ball, only allowing four hits and one walk, while striking out six. The Cardinals offense struck early and often, getting it started in the second inning that was capped off by a two RBI single by Necumba Booker. Adrian Lucre and Cesar Castillo Baez each hit their first homerun's of the year in the third and fourth inning respectively. Lucre and Castillo Baez would each finish with two hits and two RBI's, and Arrone Dutton would add two hits as well. Freshman Preston Mauzy and Austin Galda would close out the final three innings on the mound on the way to a 7-3 victory.

Game 2

In game two on Saturday afternoon, the Catonsville offense picked up right where it left off in the first game of the series. First baseman Adrian Lucre kept his hot bat going delivering a two RBI single in the first inning to give the Cardinals the early lead. Sophomore Tyler Green got the start on the mound and was rolling along through four innings holding on to a 4-1 lead. He saw some trouble in the fifth though, allowing a three-run homerun to right field to knot the game at four a piece and that would bring his day to an end. His final line for the day was 4 2/3 innings pitched, allowing six hits, four earned runs, and striking out 10 Sussex County batters.

 Right-hander Hunter McKean followed Green on the mound and a couple of unearned runs in the top half of the sixth inning gave Sussex a 7-4 lead heading into the bottom half of the sixth inning. The Cardinals offense would not go down without a fight, loading up the bases quickly and threating to get the lead that was once theirs back. The scoring got started on a Cesar Baez Castillo bases loaded walk, followed by an Arrone Dutton single to make it a 7-6 ballgame. After Ryan Clatterbuck scored on a wild pitch, Nick Carpio delivered what would end up being the game winning hit delivering a two RBI single to take a 9-7 lead. They would finish with six runs in the inning taking a 10-7 lead into the final inning.

McKean would strike out two in the top of the 7^th to close out the come from behind victory for Catonsville and would be his first victory on the mound this season. Shortstop Sam Rodriguez added a big day at the plate going 3-4 with 2 RBI's.

Game 3

The third and final game of the series was a defensive and pitching battle between the two teams. Freshman Shady Farah set the tone defensively in the top half of the first inning when he made two diving catches, one of which saved at least one run and brought the inning to a close. He turned this defense into offense, delivering and RBI single in the bottom half of the inning to give the Cardinals an early 2-0 lead. Sussex would score one run in the second inning on a wild pitch by starter Dan Delaney, but they would not see much more success facing him on the day. The right-hander delivered six strong innings allowing only three hits, and two earned runs while striking out three batters. Catonsville tacked on one more in the third to give them a 3-1 lead, and that would be about all their offense would do in the game. After three consecutive scoreless innings by both teams, Sussex began to threaten in the 7^th and final inning. The Skylanders would get one run across the board, but freshman Jason Skeen would come in to close the door and record the save.

These were three big wins by the Cardinals to get back on track after returning from their Florida trip. The team now enters region play with a 4-5 overall record, winning four of their last five total and three straight games. Region play begins on Tuesday, March 3^rd as Catonsville will play host to sister school CCBC Essex at 3:00 PM.