FROSTBURG, MD. – Frostburg State baseball dropped the first two games of a weekend series against Wheeling this afternoon. The closely contested games finished at 1-5 in the first and 8-11 in the second. Junior Jack Maruskin was 4-8 on the day with two runs and an RBI.
The Bobcats now hold a record of 8-15 while the Cardinals move to 17-8.
Frostburg sent senior Franco Velasquez to the mound in the opener. He started the game off strong by getting three of his seven strikeouts in the first inning. Both teams traded relatively clean innings with the top of the third ending in a 5-4-3 double play. On the next Bobcat at bat, junior Josh Netterville ripped a triple down the line. Netterville was unable to make it home after being caught in a rundown later in the inning.
The first run of the game came in the bottom of the fifth when Maruskin doubled to score senior Jared Mouton giving the Bobcats a 1-0 lead. The Cardinals evened things up in the sixth on a solo homerun to center. Wheeling scored again in the top of the seventh tacking on four more runs. The Bobcats were unable to add any runs in the seventh to end the game 5-1 Wheeling.
The second game of the day saw considerably more offensive production from both teams. First-year James Stefanowicz started for the Bobcats. Stefanowicz ran into a little trouble to start the game giving up a homerun and four runs overall. The Bobcats cut into the early lead in the first when Junior Bryce Jackson came around from second on a single from junior Andrew Smith.
The Cardinals added another run in the third on a solo homerun making the score 5-1. The Bobcats again answered with runs of their own on another Smith single knocking in Maruskin. In the next at bat, sophomore Jack Lawrence had a sacrifice fly that allowed Senior Ryan Roell to make the score 5-3.
Wheeling was able to chase Stefanowicz in the fourth while adding four more runs. Jackson added two RBI scoring Maruskin and senior Mitch Fyffe on a double. Roell then was able to knock in Jackson in on the next at bat making the score 9-6 Cardinals. Fyffe later knocked in a run of his own scoring junior Nick Benitez. In the following inning the Cardinals added an insurance run on a solo homerun making the game 11-7. The Bobcats had a two out rally going in the seventh when Fyffe doubled in a run cutting the lead to three. Jackson came to the plate as the possible tying run before flying out to center to end the game at 11-8.
The Bobcats play again Sunday April 17 when they again play Wheeling at 1:00 PM. For up to date information visit
www.frostburgsports.com.
