FAIRFAX, VA. – The Victory Era begins for first-year head coach Mike Victory with Ty Broughton's (Charles Town, W.Va./Washington) two-run double in the seventh inning along with the five-hit effort from the pitching staff to escape with a 5-4 win over Ursinus in the Cougar Classic at Patriot Park on Saturday afternoon.
Inside the Box Score
Ty Broughton (Charles Town, W.Va./Washington) went 2-for-3 including a double and three RBIs.
Matthew Stout (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) had two runs and scored twice.
AJ Haines (Arlington, Va./Bishop O'Connell) hit his first career homer and scored twice on the day.
On the Mound
Finn Scott-Daniels (Annandale, Va./Annandale) ended up with another no decision, but after four innings of scoreless baseball and striking out four.
Mason Salisbury (Colora, Md./Perryville) would earn the win with his two innings of work allowing two runs on two hits.
Mason Sawyers (Culpeper, Va./Culpeper County) would get the two-inning save allowing two runs on two hits.
How it Happened
The Blazers would try to jump on offense early, first with a leadoff walk that quickly turned into a pickoff at first and an infield single to shortstop that would strike down a runner at the plate.
Haines broke open scoring with a homer to centerfield to put Hood up 1-0. With Broughton hit by a pitch and James Gruenfelder(Port Jefferson, N.Y./Earl L. Vandermulen) arriving on base for the second time in the game, traffic on the bases was a good sign. The ducks on the pond rattled the starter for Ursinus and a walk and passed ball extended the lead.
A single to center scored Ursinus' first run in the top of the fifth, Hood responded with Broughton's single to center to score Stout to return to the two-run ballgame.
Two free passes in the bottom of the seventh along with two quick outs left two in scoring position and Broughton cashing them both in on a double to left field.
A two-run eight inning left the Blazers hanging on to a one-run lead heading into the ninth. A leadoff walk and later a single put two on with one out. Although the tying run made it 90 feet away from home, Salisbury struck out the next batter and got the ender to fly out to secure the first win of the season and of head coach Mike Victory's tenure.
For the Opponent
Barritt Ross had 3-of 5hits for the Bears.
Up Next
The squad has a date with the defending National Champions in Misericordia at Patriot Park to finish the Cougar Classic at noon tomorrow. Stats will be available postgame on hoodathletics.com.