(New Britain, CT., Jun. 20, 2018) - The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (20-29) split a doubleheader against the New Britain Bees (23-27), dropping game one 5-2 before recovering to win game two 7-1.
Game one started with a scoreless first inning, before the Bees opened the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the second. Jason Rogers led things off with a single, scoring from first on a double from Josh Thole. Two batters later a single from Jamar Walton scored Thole from second, before Walton was picked off second during the next at-bat. Two pitches after the successful pickoff play, Jonathon Galvez drilled a solo homerun, giving the Bees a 3-0 lead.
A scoreless third ensued, but the Bees added two more to their lead in the bottom of the fourth. Rogers started the offense off again, this time drawing a walk from Casey Delgado (3-4) as the leadoff man. A groundout from Thole advanced him to second, followed by a two-run homerun from Matt Tuiasosopo to make the lead 5-0.
Rainy Lara (3-2) was spectacular for the Bees through the first four innings, allowing just one hit. Cory Vaughn finally got the Blue Crabs on the board in the fifth, launching his eighth homerun of the season. A single and an error put two on, but Austin Green was thrown out trying to score on a single from Ryan Strausborger for the second out. Edwin Garcia followed with the fourth hit of the inning, but Angelys Nina was thrown out at home as well to end the inning.
After the long fifth inning, Lara bounced back for a 1-2-3 frame in the sixth. He headed to the seventh, looking for back-to-back complete games for the New Britain pitching staff. A solo homerun from Green cut the deficit to 5-2, but Lara got Nina to groundout out after and end game one with a Bees victory.
After a 30-minute break in between, the teams returned to the field for game two on the night. The Blue Crabs sent right-hander Brett Marshall to the mound to make his team debut. New Britain wasted no time getting their offense going on Marshall, scoring in the first. Deibinson Romero doubled with two outs, scoring on a single from Rogers to grab an early lead.
The lead didn’t last long, as Jon Griffin tied the game in the top of the second on a solo homerun. Pitching settled in immediately after that, as Marshall and Kyle Simon (3-4) began trading scoreless innings. Neither team got any offense going from innings 3-5, taking a 1-1 tie in to the sixth inning.
The Southern Maryland offense came alive in the sixth, putting up six runs in the inning. Back-to-back singles from Griffin and Angelo Songco got the offense going in the frame. Griffin was pinch-run for by Vaughn, getting more speed on the bases as the tying run. A wild pitch moved both runners to scoring position, before Nina was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
The Blue Crabs took their first lead of the day when Simon walked the next batter, David Lyon, to score Vaughn from third. Francisco Rosario followed that with a single, scoring Songco easily before Nina also came across on an error by the first baseman. Strausborger followed that with a three-run homerun, ending the night for Simon and putting the team a 7-1 lead.
Marshall allowed two hits in the bottom half of the inning, but recovered to strike out two straight batters and end the inning. The starter then gave way to Sam Runion in the bottom of the seventh, looking to secure the split on the day. Runion made quick work of the Bees in the seventh, securing the 7-1 win with a 1-2-3 inning.
The Blue Crabs return to action Thursday, June 21st for the series finale against the Bees. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 P.M. on Thursday at New Britain Stadium.
For more information on the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, or to reserve your seat today for any of the Blue Crabs upcoming home games, please visit our website at somdbluecrabs.com or call us at 301-638-9788.