(Waldorf, MD., Aug. 27, 2017) – The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (21-29) dropped the series finale against the Sugar Land Skeeters (24-25) 7-0, making it back-to-back shutouts for the Skeeters to finish the series.
Both starting pitchers were dominant through the first three innings, allowing just two hits each heading to the fourth. The Skeeters were able to mount a threat in the fourth against Drew Hayes, stringing together three straight hits against the right-hander. Albert Cordero singled with one out to start the rally, moving up to second on a single from Joe Benson. Dickie Thon followed with the third hit in a row, but Tucker Nathans made a strong throw from left to get Cordero at the plate trying to score from second. Hayes then forced a groundout from Josh Prince to end the inning, saving the scoreless tie.
The Blue Crabs created a threat of their own in the fifth, loading the bases in the inning. Zach Cone singled to get it started, before back-to-back walks to Luis Alen and Jose Lozada loaded the bases with one out. Bobby Blevins (5-7) responded by striking out Edwin Garcia, before locking into a battle with L.J. Hoes. Hoes connected on a deep flyball to right-center field, where Caleb Ramsey would track it down and make a diving catch to end inning and strand the runners.
The Skeeters would never look back from the momentum of that catch, putting up four runs in the sixth to take the lead. David Russo (0-3) took over for Hayes in the inning, walking Travis Scott to start the inning. Bryan Pounds followed with a two-run homerun to put Sugar Land ahead and open the scoring. Two batters later, an error at shortstop allowed Benson to reach, with a walk to Thon advancing Benson to second. After a double steal attempt moved Benson to third but got Thon caught, a walk to Josh Prince put runners on the corners. Prince immediately stole second, with a single from Ramsey scoring both runners, extending the lead to 4-0.
Sugar Land added another to their lead in the seventh, as Travis Scott came around to score on a two-out double from Albert Cordero. The offense wasn’t quite finished yet though, as two more runs were added to the tally in the eighth. Thon led off the inning with his second walk of the game, before a two-run homerun from Prince extended the lead to 7-0.
The bullpen for Sugar Land took over from there, finishing the shutout Blevins started. After a pair of 1-2-3 innings in the seventh and eighth, Scott Maine came on to finish off the game in the ninth. Main struck out the first batter off the inning, before Cory Vaughn reached on an infield single. Another strikeout followed, before a line drive from Zach cone was handled by Scott at first to end the game. The Sugar Land win allowed them to finish the series with a split, shutting out the Blue Crabs in back-to-back games to finish the series.
The Blue Crabs return to action Monday, August 28th for the series opener against the Bridgeport Bluefish. Southern Maryland will send RHP Eric Fornataro (0-4, 6.42) to the mound, looking to start the series with a win. He will matchup with Bridgeport’s RHP Reinier Roibal (3-2, 2.88). First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 P.M. on Monday at Regency Furniture 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.