SALISBURY, Md. – In a battle of two top-5 teams in the latest D3baseball.com poll, Salisbury got the better of Shenandoah in a non-conference road game. The busy week for the Hornets continued as this was their third game of the week heading into a doubleheader tomorrow with Virginia Wesleyan. The Seagulls bested the Hornets (18-4) behind
Andrew Gload's first career start for Shenandoah. The sophomore pitched 4 innings of scoreless baseball before running into trouble in the 5
th. After hitting the first two batters in the 5
th, Gload was lifted for
Jackson Sherman who went 3.2 innings giving up two runs to take the loss for the Hornets.
Parker Farrington came in and threw one pitch to get the last out of the 8
th inning when
Brody Pickette gunned down a Seagull trying to steal second. The Seagull pitchers stopped the high-powered offense of the Hornets, which came in averaging almost 12 runs a game, and held them to two runs and only five hits.
Winning Pitcher: Aidan Brinsfield (2-0)
Losing Pitcher:
Jackson Sherman (3-1)
Save: Garrett Beaver (2)
Top Numbers:
Gavin Horning: 2-4, 2 RBI, 2 stolen bases
Jaime Padilla: 1-4, 1 walk
Frankie Ritter: 1-5
Matt House: 1-2, 1 run scored, 1 walk
Andrew Gload: 4 IP, 3 hits, 2 runs, 2 ER, 2 strikeouts, 2 walks
Jackson Sherman: 3.2 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 ER, 1 strikeout, 1 walk
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Jaime Padilla led the game off with a single but was eliminated on a fielder's choice from Gavin Horning. Horning stole second for a runner in scoring position, but Chandler Ballenger just missed a ball, and he lined out to right field to end the threat.
- Andrew Gload, making his first career start, got the first out on one pitch. However, after giving up a walk and single, he got the next batter to fly out to left for two outs. Gload hit a batter to load the bases but got the next batter to strike out to end the inning.
- In the second, the Hornets went down in order, and Gload and the defense, worked around a one-out walk to get out of the second.
- The Hornets got Matt House into scoring position after a single to left center and then advanced to second on a wild pitch, but Ritter flew out to end the inning. Gload breezed through the Seagulls in the third, as the game remained scoreless heading to the fourth.
- Gavin Horning led the fourth off with a single and stole his second base of the game, but once again was stranded at second. The Seagulls had their best chance in the fourth with two runners on and only one out. The Salisbury runner stole third to put runners on the corner, but Gload got the ground ball he needed for the double play to get out of the inning.
- In the fifth, Brody Pickette drew a one-out walk before Matt House walked to put two runners on. Frankie Ritter singled to the shortstop and used his speed to beat the throw. Gavin Horning singled up the middle as Pickette and House scored easily to give the Hornets the 2-0 lead.
- Salisbury answered in their half of the fifth and took the lead. Gload hit the first two batters of the inning before being lifted for Jackson Sherman. The first batter Sherman faced got a beautiful bunt down to load the bases with nobody out. The lead got cut in half on a sacrifice fly to right field. Sherman got a ground ball to third, and Scott Wilson went home with the ball, but a close play at the plate went in favor of the home team to tie the game. The Seagulls then got another sacrifice fly to take a 3-2 lead before Salisbury picked up another single to take a 4-2 lead.
- In the sixth, the Hornets had two runners on again but could not come up with a hit to get the run across.
- Shenandoah went down quietly in the seventh and eighth as the game came down to their last at-bat.
- In the ninth, Connor Houser was a pinch-hit option and crushed a ball down the right field line, but the first baseman was playing him to pull and caught the line drive. Jackson Foreman drew a two-out walk before Padilla walked to put two batters on. The game ended on a roller to short and the Hornets fell 4-2 to the Seagulls.
UP NEXT:
The Hornets will spend the night in Virginia Beach before they take on the Marlins tomorrow for a conference doubleheader.
#GoSUHornets
