St. Mary’s City, MD| The Rosemont Ravens Baseball Program traveled to Saint Mary’s College of Maryland to take on the Seahawks in the First United East Matchup of the Season.
Carson Pence got the start in Game One for the Ravens to set off United East Conference Play. The Seahawks got to Pence early, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first. Rosemont responded in the top of the second as Tahj Wilson led off with a single. Ryan Bowman would drive in Wilson on an error by St. Mary’s to get Rosemont on the board. The Seahawks added two more runs in the bottom of the inning, extending their lead to five.
Larson Greenlee came in to start the bottom of the third for Rosemont, as the Seahawks’ offense continued to work counts, expanding their lead 9-1. The Ravens did not put their heads down as Brody Lykes walked with one out. Bowman followed with a single into right field, as Isaac Bugman reached on an error, driving in Lykes. The lineup flipped, Chase Masten singled down the third base line to drive in Bowman. Peake walked to reload the bases for Gary Kroll. A sacrifice fly would drive home Bugman and the Ravens’ third run of the inning. Caiden Spinelli drew a two-out walk, loading the bases for pinch-hitter Yassine Zekkaria. Wild pitches by the Seahawks allowed two more runs for Rosemont as they cut their deficit to three. (9-6)
A two-out single for the Seahawks brought in a run as they built their lead back to four runs after four innings. The Ravens offense continued to grind at the plate. Lykes led off with a single, stealing second, and reaching scoring positions with no outs. Bugman singled to put runners on the corners for Masten with two outs. He came through for the Ravens with a single up the middle, scoring Lykes and bringing the deficit back to three. Saint Mary’s would tack on another run in the bottom of the fifth, extending their lead back to four runs.
Justin Gonzalez came in to start the sixth for the Ravens, forcing soft contact in his two innings of work. Gonzalez was clean, giving Rosemont life.
Peake would single with one out in the top of the eighth, stealing second. The Ravens were unable to drive him home. Gisella Schiano came in for the bottom of the inning, going one-two-three, striking out her first batter. The Ravens battled in the top of the ninth as Wilson was struck by an inside pitch, and Lykes was intentionally walked with one out. Flyouts ended the game for the Ravens as they fell to the Seahawks in game one, 11-7.
Solomon Denmark got the start in game two for the Ravens. Walking his first batter, he settled in, trusting his defense to do the work behind him. The Ravens spun a double play to get out of an early jam clean in the first with two on. Kroll led off the second inning with a single, followed by another single from Wilson with one out. The Ravens were unable to drive them home, but built up the pitch count on the Seahawks’ pitcher early. In the top of the third, Masten was struck by a pitch, stealing second with one out. Joe Bentivegna ripped a double into left, scoring. Masten gave Rosemont an early lead over St. Mary’s. In the bottom of the inning, Deuce struck out his first batter looking, but the Seahawks reached on some errors by the Ravens’ infield, scoring two in the third.
Patrick McCalister came in for the bottom of the fourth, striking out a batter in a clean inning of work. The Ravens went to work in the top of the fifth as Masten tripled on a ball to left. Bentivegna reached by error, scoring Masten on the infield grounder to tie the game at 2-2. The bottom of the inning got away from the Ravens, as the Seahawks took a seven-run advantage (9-2).
The Ravens did not give up as Isaac Bugman led off the seventh with a single, Masten Bentivegna, and Brandon Peake followed with walks to load the bases with one out. Terrell Robinson drove in a run on a fielder’s choice, as Peake scored on a wild pitch the following at bat to cut into the Seahawks lead (10-4). They added two more runs in the bottom of the inning to extend their lead. The Ravens continued to work at-bats as Ryan Bowman walked with two outs. Isaac Bugman singled, followed by another triple by Masten, driving in two runs. Bentivegna ripped another double to left, driving in Masten and cutting their deficit to five (12-7). St. Mary’s College of Maryland went on to score one more in the bottom of the eighth as Rosemont fell 7-13 in game two.
”I am really proud of how we competed for 18 innings in our opening conference series. We had some really strong pitching performances from Lars Greenlee, Justin Gonzalez, and Gisella Schiano in Game 1. She threw again in Game 2 and did really well.” – Head Coach Ross Trachtenberg.
What’s Next?
The Ravens will be back in action on March 25th as they travel to Muhlenberg College to take on the Mules. First pitch is set for 3:30 PM on Wednesday.
