Salve Drops a Pair in Nation’s Capital, Looks Forward to Sunnier Days
Washington, D.C. -- The Salve baseball team traveled to Washington, D.C. this past weekend to take on Catholic University for a Sunday double-header, but things did not swing the Seahawks' way as they dropped both games to the Cardinals.
GAME ONE
Brayden Clark (Beverly, Mass.) started on the hill for the Seahawks in game one, marking his second start of the season for the Seahawks in their third game thus far. Through six innings of work, Clark allowed three earned runs on seven hits. Clark was relieved by freshman Sean Mulligan (Verona, N.J.), who allowed an additional three runs on just four hits.
The Seahawks offense could not get the rust off until the eighth inning, where Salve posted three runs to cut the Cardinals' lead in half, but it would not end up being enough as the Seahawks would suffer a 6-3 defeat. Kyle Platt (Bethel, Conn.) entered the game in the eighth inning as a pinch hitter and made an immediate impact, hitting a solo shot to left field to get the Seahawks on the board. The rest of the lineup rallied behind Platt's jack, scrapping together two more runs towards the end of the game. However, the tale of the tape was pitching, as the Seahawks fanned only two to the Cardinals' 10 Ks.
GAME TWO
The second matchup between the birds had more fireworks. Graham Jeffries (Chelmsford, Mass.) got the nod for Salve, striking out nine and allowing three runs on four hits. Jeffries allowed an RBI-single in the bottom of the first before retiring nine straight batters. The Cardinals added two runs on a towering homerun in the fifth to cut the Seahawks lead to 3-2. After finishing the inning, Jeffries handed the ball to Nick Callano (Ocean, N.J.) to start the bottom of the sixth, who went 3.1 innings and allowed three runs, two earned. Chris Beach pitched to the final two batters, walking the first and allowing the walk-off single to the second to ultimately take the loss.
As for the Seahawks offense in game two, the Seahawks notched 13 hits. The Seahawks top half of the lineup hit .458, adding Salve's lone four RBIs. The offense was led by Brandon Grover (Ashland, Mass.), who went 4-for-5 with a double and three singles. The Seahawks led 5-3 going into the eighth inning, where Catholic scored three runs in two innings and walked it off in the bottom of the ninth.
The Seahawks (1-2, 0-0 CCC) have some time off before traveling to Florida to participate in a collegiate tournament in the Sunshine State.