MIAMI SHORES, Fl. – The Frostburg State baseball team fell to Barry in their opening game of the season by a final of 7-3.
 
The Bobcats flew south to kick of the 2024 season in the first of a three-game weekend series, looking to build on a successful 2023 season in making it to the final game of the MEC championship.
 
FSU didn't wait long to get the bats going, as senior Ethan Kiple recorded the first Bobcat hit of the year, a single down the left field line, then Frostburg loaded the bases after a single from junior Danny Estrada and a walk drawn by freshman Jackson Schalick. Estrada got caught stealing for the second out, but junior Cy Probst singled to center to bring in Kiple as the first run, as a throwing error also allowed Shalick to score all the way from first for an early 2-0 lead. Freshman Ryan Bouma collected his first hit and RBI on a run-scoring single, plating Probst to end the first up 3-0.

After the hot start, the Bobcats would send junior Jacob McDonald to the bump for his first Bobcat start. He would strike out two and strand one to finish the first, then had a quick 1-2-3 inning in the second. Barry would settle in getting through the top of the FSU order in the third before getting on the board in the bottom half. Two extra base hits gave the hosts some life, as a triple and two-run home run put the Buccaneers back in the game down just 3-2 going into the fourth inning.

McDonald was able to recover after the homer, working cleanly through the next two and a third, only giving up six hits while punching out three to end his day with just the two earned runs and three strikeouts. 
 
With Frostburg unable to mount any consistent offense, Barry would rally late, evening the score at 3-3 in the sixth inning and then adding on four runs in the seventh. Using a combination of small ball and an FSU error, the Buccaneers took the lead on a single to left, then hit a pair of two-out singles that plated three total runs, leading 7-3 after seven.

The Bobcats looked to answer in the eighth, loading the bases after singles from Kiple and Probst, but an inning-ending double play kept the game at 7-3. In attempting to keep the game alive, senior Stafford Allison laced a liner into left, followed by a walk by junior Christian Shertzer for two on with one out, but back-to-back K's gave Barry the win on the night. 
 
The Bobcats were led by Kiple, Estrada and Probst all having two hits, while Probst and Bouma picked up an RBI each. In addition to McDonald's start, freshman Jack Ray had a fine debut out of the pen, going 1.1 innings of shutout ball with a hit, walk, and strikeout. 

The Bobcats now sit at 0-1 on the season with Berry improving to 3-5. The sides will wrap up their weekend series on Saturday, with a doubleheader set to begin at noon. For more information, please visit frostburgsports.com