CARY, N.C.- The Frostburg State Baseball team roared back from five run deficit to defeat the No. 24-ranked Franklin Pierce Ravens 11-9 on Saturday afternoon.
Senior Bryce Jackson got the scoring started earlym as he hit a bomb over the right field fence to give the Bobcats the early 1-0 lead. Redshirt freshman Hayden Ford threw a flawless first inning, striking out two in his first start since coming off an injury suffered last season.
The lead wasn't held long, however, as the Ravens got to junior Will Grove for four runs (two earned) in the third to go up 4-1. Frostburg would get two back after freshman Christian Shertzer reached on an error and junior Jack Maruskin squeezed a hit fair down the right field line for an RBI triple. Jackson would then ground out to second to drive Maruskin in and narrow the deficit to 4-3.
Franklin Pierce would then score a combined five runs in the fourth and fifth innings off some defensive mishaps to take an 8-3 lead. In the bottom of the fifth, with one out, Jackson, junior Trevor Jones, and junior Ethan Kiple all had hard hit singles to load the bases. Senior Jack Lawrence would pop out to give Frostburg two outs, but junior Aronne Dutton worked a hard-earned walk to score Jackson from third. Sophomore Justin Jimenez came up to the plate with the bases still loaded and hit a stinger down the left field line, scoring Jones and Kiple to cut the deficit to 8-6.
Frostburg would add another run in the sixth, as freshman Jacob Stretch hit the first of his two opposite-field doubles, as Maruskin would follow with a single to drive him in, making the score 8-7.
The Bobcats got it going again in the seventh as Kiple, Lawrence, and Jimenez all singled to load the bases with one out. Sophomore AJ Campbell would ground into a fielders choice to score Kiple and tie the ballgame 8-8. Stretch would make his presence known once again as he hit his second double of the afternoon to give the Bobcats the go-ahead runs and the lead for the first time since the first inning, 10-8. Senior Josh Netterville would come in to pinch hit in the bottom of the eighth and single in a run to give FSU an insurance run, up 11-9.
Stretch would then come in from shortstop to the mound to close the game in the top of the ninth. He struck out the first two Raven batters with ease and had the Bobcat fans excited in the stands. Franklin Pierce kept things interesting with a two-out double, but Stretch got the next batter to ground out to first for the victory.
Stretch earned the save, his team-leading third of the season, while sophomore Jarek Bacon picked up his first collegiate win in a stellar effort out of the bullpen. Kiple led the Bobcat offense with three hits, as Maruskin, Jackson, Jimenez, and Stretch all had two hits and contributed two RBI each.
The win marked the first victory over a ranked opponent since FSU joined Division II, and is the first such win since the 2018 team defeated then-No. 5 Christopher Newport.
Frostburg improves to 8-1 overall, while the Ravens fall to 5-3. The Bobcats round out their weekend trip against No. 22 West Chester as a part of back-to-back ranked opponents on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 PM. For information and updates stay tuned at frostburgsports.com.
