BECKLEY, W. Va.- The Frostburg State baseball team started the season off strong sweeping the opening series against Bluefield State. The Bobcats won by a score of 22-5 on Saturday, then turned around and won 4-3 and 13-8 on the Sunday doubleheader.
The opening game for the Bobcats was a windy one. Senior Jack Maruskin took the mound for FSU and looked sharp in his first start. He struck out six of the 15 batters he faced and only gave up one run. Frostburg opened the game up with a two-run triple from junior Trevor Jones. FSU would tack on five additional runs before an answer from Bluefield in the fourth making the score 7-1. In the sixth, the Bobcats crossed the plate five times. The final run of the sixth came on a RBI double from senior Josh Netterville and made the score 12-1. Bluefield would make a push in the bottom of the seventh getting the score to 14-5, but the Bobcats would add a run in the eighth and another six in the final inning, for a 22-5 win.
In game one Sunday afternoon, both pitchers would have clean games going into the third inning. That changed when Jones hit a triple that allowed freshman Danny Estrada to cross the plate and put the Bobcats up 1-0. The Big Blue would answer and score a run in the third and tie up the ballgame. The game would remain tied until the seventh inning. The Bobcats would open their ambush with a hard-hit single from Maruskin that allowed both Netterville and senior Bryce Jackson to score. Senior Jack Lawrence would lay down a sacrifice bunt allowing Maruskin to score making it a 4-1 game going into the bottom of the seventh. Bluefield State would score two runs of their own in the seventh, but fell short as Frostburg took game two of the series, 4-3.
In game three, it would be a different story as the Bobcats offense put up 13 runs. The Bobcats would attack early in the first with RBI singles from Jones and Maruskin. Senior Nick Benitez would single to left field allowing junior Ethan Kiple to score in the third. The Big Blue would answer with three runs, keeping the game within reach at 4-3 at the end of the third. The Bobcats offense would explode in the top of the fifth as Jackson drove in a run and then blasted three-run moonshot to further extend the Bobcats lead to 12-3. The Big Blue would start to get some momentum in the sixth picking up three runs, but a Maruskin double down the right field line would allow Jackson to score sealing the game and giving the victory to the Bobcats, 13-8.
With the wins, the Bobcats start the season 3-0 and Bluefield State falls to 4-5 on the season. The Bobcats will be back in action when they travel to Wilson, N.C. to take on both Chowan and Mid-Atlantic Christian on Friday, February 26 at 11:30 AM and 2:30 PM. For more information and updates, visit www.frostburgsports.com.
