York, Pa. – An eighth-inning rally helped the St. Mary's College of Maryland baseball team (11-9, 4-6 CAC) overcome a 2-0 deficit for a 3-2 victory over host York College of Pennsylvania (4-9, 3-5 CAC) in Capital Athletic Conference action Friday afternoon, spoiling York's home-opener.
The Seahawks started the comeback behind sophomore catcher Stefano Muscatelli's (Warwick, R.I./Toll Gate) lead-off walk. Seniors Bobby Corton (Owings Mills, Md./Calvert Hall) and Matt Baden (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown) followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases. Junior right fielder Eric Gronbeck (Owings, Md./Northern) then grounded out to the shortstop to score sophomore Mike Schmidt (Burtonsville, Md./Blake), who was pinch-running for Muscatelli.
With runners on second and third and just one out, York went to its bullpen and relieved senior RHP Andy Rosenzweig (Glen Rock, Pa./Susquehannock) with junior RHP Brandon Ullom (South Plainfield, N.J./South Plainfield). Sophomore shortstop Corey Napier (Leonardtown, Md./St. Mary's Ryken) was Ullom's first batter and Napier hit him up for a two-run double to centerfield to bring home Corton and Baden and put St. Mary's ahead 3-2 with only one out. Ullom then got the next two batters to ground out to escape the inning without further damage.
Sophomore LHP Wick Eisenberg (Towson, Md./Friends), who had relieved sophomore starter Devon Jerrard (Hunt Valley, Md./Boys' Latin) with one out in the seventh, gave up a lead-off single before a fielder's choice put one out on the board. Eisenberg then got senior shortstop Rob Klinck (Stanhope, N.J./Lenape Valley Regional) to ground out into a double play to end the eighth inning.
Ullom pretty much retired the side in the ninth, giving up just one walk in four batters faced. He struck out the lead-off batter before senior first baseman Ian Simpson-Shelton (Upper Marlboro, Md./DeMatha) drew a walk. The next two batters then flied out to end the inning.
The Spartans led off the ninth with a single before back-to-back ground outs and a line out to Eisenberg stranded senior leftfielder Devin Harbold (York, Pa./West York) on second.
Eisenberg improved to 3-0 on the season with 2.2 innings of work, allowing no runs on just one hit with a strikeout as he faced nine batters. Jerrard claimed a no-decision as he pitched 6.1 innings, yielding two runs (both earned) on eight hits with two strikeouts and one walk. Napier paced the Seahawks at the plate with a 2-for-4 effort and two RBI.
York claimed an early 1-0 lead in the first as senior first baseman CT Stanley (Timonium, Md./Calvert Hall) doubled to leftfield to score junior centerfielder Steve Tretter (Ephrata, Pa./Ephrata) who had connected on a lead-off triple.
The Spartans increased their lead to 2-0 in the seventh when senior third baseman Kyle Cook (Pylesville, Md./North Harford) came home on sophomore catcher Justin Cohen's (Severn, Md./Old Mill) sacrifice fly to right field. Cook had reached third on a throwing error by Jerrard, advancing all the way to third.
St. Mary's will be back in action Saturday, March 19 when the Seahawks wrap up their three-game series with York at Jaquet Field with a doubleheader starting at 1:00 pm.