The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs Split the Doubleheader with the Long Island Ducks on Saturday night. The Blue Crabs bats never got going in game one, ultimately falling 2-1.
The Ducks started the scoring in the second inning. With a runner on second, Vladimir Frias singled through the right side, scoring Castro to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the second inning, the Blue Crabs responded. Southern Maryland had runners on second and third with no outs after a walk, a single, and a balk. Braxton Lee then lifted a ball to center field that allowed David Harris to come home and score, tying the game at 1-1, but the Blue Crabs couldn’t muster a second run in the inning.
After surrendering a run in the second inning, Adrian Cook (L, 0-1) ran into more trouble in the third. Phil Caulfield singled before he stole second and advanced to third with two outs. Sam Travis then bolted one off the Mini Monster in left field, giving the Ducks a 2-1 lead.
From there, Cook dominated, but the Blue Crabs bats fell silent against Ryan Meisinger (W, 3-2). Jose Jose (Sv, 1) entered the ballgame in the sixth inning, shutting down the Blue Crabs bats to secure the 2-1 win.
In game two, Eddie Butler (W, 10-2) led the way for the Blue Crabs, pitching five and one-third innings, allowing only one run en route to a 5-1 victory.
The ballgame remained scoreless until the top of the fourth inning when the Ducks scored the first run. With a runner on first base, Joe DeCarlo ripped a double down the left field line, scoring Carlos Castro to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead.
But the Blue Crabs answered quickly against Stephen Tarpley (L, 4-5). After Michael Wielansky singled, Braxton Lee ripped a double into the left-center field gap, bringing in Lee. From there, David Harris scorched a single into left field, scoring Lee to give the Blue Crabs a 2-1 lead. Zach Collier then drilled a double into the right field corner, advancing Harris to third. Jared Walker drove in Harris on a ground ball to second, giving the Blue Crabs a 3-1 lead.
In the fifth inning, Southern Maryland struck again. With runners on the corners, David Harris hit a sharp ground ball that deflected off of Kevin Whatley, scoring a Jack Sundberg to give the Blue Crabs a 4-1 lead. The next batter, Alex Crosby, dribbled one to first base, scoring Michael Wielansky from third base, giving the Blue Crabs a 5-1 lead.
The Blue Crabs turned to Patrick Baker in the sixth and Endrys Briceno in the seventh to give the Blue crabs a 5-1 victory. With the win, the Blue Crabs split the doubleheader, moving to 64-29 on the season. The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs return home tomorrow at 2 pm for game three of the series with the Long Island Ducks.