FROSTBURG, Md. – In its final home games of the 2013 season, the Frostburg State baseball team went out with a bang as the Bobcats took two from former Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference foe Mount Aloysius, 13-2 and 10-0.
Box Scores
Game 1
Game 2
After a scoreless first inning, the Bobcats (25-14) went on a hitting frenzy in the bottom of the second to break Game 1 open. Hot-hitting Dylan Shupe led off the segment with a single to left field and eventually found himself at second base after a misplay by the left fielder. Rob Jennings then came up and singled Shupe home for the game’s inaugural run. After a pair of singles from Jon Keeler and Pat Sapp, Garrett Price blasted a three-run homer over the left field fence to extend the lead to 5-0 with an out yet to be recorded for the visiting Mounties (23-14). FSU got three more runs in the inning but the damage had already been done.
Mount Aloysius got on the board in the top of the third as it got a two-run single from Lucas Szymanski. Although the Mounties got a total of 13 hits on the day, the two runs scored in the inning would be the only two to cross the plate for the opposition all day.
Frostburg got another big outburst in the home half of the third, highlighted by a RBI double from J.K. Filauro and a two-run triple from Matt Donaldson.
A single run came across in the bottom of the sixth for the Bobcats to bring the final Game 1 total to an impressive 13.
Senior pitcher Cody Ellsworth picked up the win on the mound for FSU after tossing 5.0 innings and allowing two runs on six hits while fanning three. Senior Joe Markiewicz Jr. came on for a near flawless final two innings as he surrendered just one hit.
Price and Donaldson each went 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs in Game 1 and Jennings had two RBI of his own to go along with two hits.
The offense came later than preferred for Frostburg in Game 2 but there would be no need for more than one run in the contest as the Bobcats got arguably its best pitching performance of the year from Curtis Randall.
The junior southpaw set the tone early, retiring the side in order in the top of the first inning. The Mounties would get all six of their singles during the next three innings but Randall got some defensive help from his battery mate Shupe, who hosed a potential base stealer from his knees, his second of the sort on the day. Making it through the middle innings unscathed, Randall got locked-in and from fifth inning on, he mowed down six of the last nine Mounties to come to the plate and retired all nine in perfect fashion.
On the other side of spectrum, the Bobcat hitters were able to plate single runs in the second, third, and fifth innings to give Randall a little bit of breathing room.
In the FSU half of the sixth, the lineup finally put the game out of reach, scoring seven runs on four hits. The majority of the seven-run assault came in a two-run double from Shupe and a two-run single from Adam Baxley in his final plate appearance at Bob Wells Field.
Although Mother Nature limited the home schedule, the Bobcats finished the year with an impressive 6-1 record at Bob Wells Field.
Randall finished with a season-high nine strikeouts to go along with no walks in the complete-game effort. The win brings his record to 4-2 on the season and drops his ERA to 2.86, which leads all Bobcat starters.
Shupe finished a perfect 3-for-3 in Game 2 with three RBI and two runs scored. Filauro also contributed with two hits and Baxley with two RBI.
Frostburg State will look to extend its winning streak to six games on Thursday when it travels to Washington, Pa. to play the Presidents of Washington and Jefferson. The single nine-inning game is slated to begin at 4 pm.
