SALISBURY, Md. – In a Saturday afternoon doubleheader, Widener baseball was looking for answers all day. They lost 16-1 to the #14 SUNY Cortland Red Dragons and lost 16-0 to the #1 Salisbury University Sea Gulls.
The Pride sit at 1-4 in the regular season. They have yet to see a MAC Commonwealth opponent.
HOW IT HAPPENED AGAINST SUNY CORTLAND
Brandon Robinson scored the lone run for the Pride, and he added a team-high two hits. Widener had five walks on offense. Aiden O'Brien got the start on the mound, allowing seven hits.
The Pride were off to a good start for the first two outs, recording a ground-out and a strikeout. However, things unraveled quickly. Cortland ripped off two doubles and a triple. The score was 5-0 Cortland through one inning.
Anthony Boccio tripled in the bottom of the first for Widener, but the offense stalled afterward. Cortland added four runs in the second, and they retired the Pride quickly in the second inning.
After only allowing one run in the third, the Pride found some life on offense from
Kyle Brex. He got a double, and he reached third base on a steal attempt.
Although Widener's batting still struggled in the fourth and fifth innings, the Red Dragons' scoring was slowing down. Cortland had four runs between those two innings. Widener earned two easy outs before the Red Dragons were able to get more men on base. A foul-out was the end of Cortland's offense in the fourth, while a ground-out finished them off in the fifth.
Widener played one of their better defensive innings in the top of the sixth, as they struck out one batter and had two ground-outs. It was also a good half-inning for the Pride's offense. The Pride earned a walk and got on base with two fielder's choice plays. However, no runs were scored.
For the final three innings, the Red Dragons only outscored the Pride 2-1. With only one hit allowed in the top of the ninth, Widener had one more chance to score, since they were considered the home team. Robinson scored the only run for the Pride on an RBI single by
Myles Calderbank. The Red Dragons, though, logged a ground-out on the next play. Cortland had won 16-1.
HOW IT HAPPENED AGAINST SALISBURY
Stephen Posner was the Pride's leader in hits, recording three hits in four at-bats. Widener had four walks for the game.
Caleb Horner was the starting pitcher for the Pride, going two innings and allowing nine hits.
For the first three innings, the Sea Gulls outscored the Pride 13-0. Even though the Pride recorded an out defensively at home plate in the bottom of the first, Salisbury's Jacob Ference homered a few plays later. Ference would go on to homer in the next inning as well. A ground-out ended the second inning for the Pride on defense. Going into the third, Widener hit two singles to get two men on base. But, three straight outs retired the Pride. Widener recorded two strikeouts in the bottom of the third inning, but allowed another home run.
For the middle three innings, the Sea Gulls only scored two runs. Although both sides made nice defensive stops, neither could get the bats moving on offense. One highlight for the Pride, however, was in the fifth inning. Posner made it to third base, and Robinson made it to second on a Salisbury pitching error. On defense in the sixth, Widener recorded an out off a Salisbury steal attempt. A pop-out retired the inning for the Sea Gulls.
The seventh, eighth, and ninth innings were relatively quiet for the Pride and Sea Gulls. Posner started things off with a single to left field. Brex, though, hit a grounder that turned into a double play for Salisbury. Widener's pitching would allow one more home run in the bottom of the seventh, but they would register two strikeouts looking in the coming batters. In the ninth inning, with one more chance to get a run, Widener had two men on base because of a walk and hit-by-pitch. Despite this, the Sea Gulls ended the game on an out in center field. Salisbury had won 16-0.
UP NEXT
The Pride come back home for their home opener on Friday, March 3. They will host the Washington College Shoremen. First pitch is set for 2:30 p.m.
