CARY, N.C. – The Frostburg State Baseball team rebounded from back-to-back losses to take a Sunday sweep over Dominican (N.Y.) in their final day at the USA Baseball Complex.
 
Game one began with neither offense generating anything against the opposing team's starter, which for FSU was junior Max Proctor, who worked an efficient scoreless first two innings.
 
The Bobcats had a great chance to score in the bottom of the second, as senior Andrew Smith singled up the middle, then sophomore Mikey Guy and senior AJ Campbell were both hit by pitches to load the bases with just one out. Unfortunately for Frostburg, they offense could only manage an infield pop out and a fly out to right that ended the threat with no score.
 
Proctor was helped out by his defense in the top of the third, as the Chargers put a man on third with no outs. The next batter struck out looking, then Campbell made a great play at third to throw the runner out trying to score, followed by Proctor working a groundout to second that concluded the inning.
 
Both sides were sat down quickly in the fourth, then FSU turned a smooth double play to end the top of the fifth and give the offense a chance to shine. Campbell was again hit by a pitch, then moved to second on a single by sophomore Randy Steen. Senior Aronne Dutton pinch ran for Campbell and moved up a base along with Steen after a pick-off attempt careened into center field. A wild pitch with two outs and the bases loaded allowed Dutton to come home and put the Bobcats ahead 1-0.
 
Dominican hit back in the next half inning, working a two-out walk followed by a sharply-hit double to left-center that brought the tying run in. Sophomore Cael Huyer came on in relief of Proctor and stranded the runner at second, fielding a comebacker and taking it to first himself.
 
Guy came up clutch in the bottom of the sixth, cranking a home run to left that gave FSU the lead for good. Junior Ethan Kiple was entrusted to get the final three outs, which he did by striking out the side for the save and the 2-1 victory.
 
Proctor went 5.2 innings of work, allowing just the one run on four hits while striking out eight.
 
The Bobcats wasted no time jumping out to an early lead in game two, with sophomore Christian Shertzer reaching on an error and sophomore Danny Estrada driving him in on a single to right. Kiple drew a walk and senior Trevor Jones legged out an infield hit to first to load the bases, then Campbell and freshman Bryce Curry were both hit by a pitch to plate two more runs for a 3-0 lead.
 
Sophomore Hayden Ford threw a quiet bottom half of the inning to bring the FSU offense back to the plate. Shertzer lined a triple into the gap in left-center and was brought home on a Guy single up the middle to go up 4-0.
 
The Chargers started up a comeback in the bottom of the third, using a pair of doubles and singles to put three runs across the board and shrink their deficit to one. Kiple responded to lead off the next half inning, crushing his first homer of the year over the wall in left to get back to a 5-3 advantage.
 
Junior Will Grove came on in relief of Ford and was lights out over the final four innings, not allowing a run to score in his appearance. Frostburg's offense helped out once again in the top of the fifth, with sophomore Jerry Crispino drawing a lead-off walk and rounding the diamond to score on a Kiple liner to left.
 
FSU benefitted from a Dominican error to score again in the top of the sixth, then piled on two more runs with RBI singles from Kiple and junior Stafford Allison to make the final score 9-3.
 
Ford and Grove combined to throw the full seven innings, with none of the three runs being earned to either pitcher, allowing just six hits in the contest. Kiple led the offense with a 3-of-4 performance at the plate, scoring three runs and knocking in three RBI.
 
With the sweep, Frostburg improves to 5-2 on the year, while Dominican falls to 1-3. FSU is back on the field from Friday, March 3 through Sunday, March 5, as they face Clarion in three straight nine-inning games in three days. Information and updates will be posted at frostburgsports.com.