St. Mary's City, Md. – Senior leftfielder Joey Kavanagh (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown) cracked two hits and scored a run while seven other Seahawks notched hits as the St. Mary's College of Maryland baseball team captured the nightcap to split Saturday's Capital Athletic Conference doubleheader with Stevenson University.
With today's split, St. Mary's (18-14, 9-9 CAC) has knocked Stevenson (11-22, 6-12 CAC) out playoff contention while the Seahawks currently sit third in the conference standings. The CAC regular season wraps up tomorrow with Wesley College at York (Pa.) College for a single game and Frostburg State University at University of Mary Washington for a doubleheader.
If UMW sweeps FSU tomorrow, UMW finishes the season tied with St. Mary's for third place in the final regular-season standings. However, the Seahawks took two of three during the regular season against UMW so St. Mary's has already clinched the No. 3 seed for the tournament.
The double-elimination CAC Baseball Tournament begins Tuesday, April 12 with first round action. The Seahawks will host on Tuesday at 3:30 pm but their opponent will be determined by tomorrow's results.
St. Mary's notched a 5-3 victory in Game 2 as the Seahawks overcame an early 2-0 deficit by scoring all five of their runs in the second inning. The Seahawks opened up the inning three consecutive singles to load the bases, allowing senior catcher Brad Shepherd's (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mills) ground out to second base to bring home Kavanagh. Sophomore centerfielder Mike Schmidt (Burtonsville, Md./Blake) then cracked a two-run single through the right side to score seniors Bobby Corton (Owings Mills, Md./Calvert Hall) and Ian Simpson-Shelton (Upper Marlboro, Md./DeMatha).
Schmidt then scored on a fielder's choice to sophomore shortstop Corey Napier (Leonardtown, Md./St. Mary's Ryken) after the Seahawks loaded the bases once again. Senior second baseman Matt Baden (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown) crossed home plate following junior third baseman Keith Johnson's (Great Mills, Md./Great Mills) two-out single up the middle. With bases loaded for the third time in the inning, Stevenson picked off Johnson at second to end the inning and hold St. Mary's at a 5-2 advantage.
The Mustangs tacked on a run in the fourth, capitalizing on a throwing error by Napier.
After giving up three hits in the first three innings, senior RHP Barrett Enix (Suffolk, Va./Nansemond-Suffolk Academy) pitched a three-inning no-hitter to pick up his third win of the season. Enix (3-1) gave up three runs on three hits with a career-best six strikeouts and three walks over 6.0 innings while sophomore Wick Eisenberg (Towson, Md./Friends) recorded his fourth save.
Stevenson broke a 1-1 deadlock in the first game with an explosive seventh inning. After the first two Mustang batters of the inning fouled out, Stevenson scored seven runs on six hits and one error with two outs on the board for the 8-1 final.
Junior RHP Michael Victory (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) suffered the loss as Victory (3-4) gave up four runs (all earned) on seven hits with two strikeouts and two walks over 6.2 innings. Senior right fielder Mark Dattilio (Hagerstown, Md./N. Hagerstown) and junior designated hitter Nick Urso (Newtown, Conn./Newtown) each collected two hits to pace the Seahawks at the plate in Game 1.