Maryland Eastern Shore fell in a pair of games against Longwood, 7-4 and 15-2, on Senior Day Sunday at Hawks Stadium.
The losses for UMES (11-39) are the Hawks' eighth and ninth in their last 10 games. Longwood
(25-17) completed its second consecutive doubleheader sweep with the victories.
Senior Tyler Love led UMES at the plate in the opener, going 2-for-3 with a run scored out of the eighth spot in the batting order. Fellow seniors Pat Hercinger and Michael Guy, Russel Deutchmann and Jorge Pichardo also picked up knocks. Guy and Pichardo tallied run-scoring hits for the hosts.
Freshman Karim Gonzalez had a quality start on the mound. After giving up two runs in the top of the first, he was able to settle in and toss six innings and allowed four runs on nine hits, he walked five and fanned three.
The Lancers took a 1-0 lead after just three pitches when Scott Kimble lined a double to left- center field and Brant Jones singled up the middle. Longwood added one more in the inning after
Jones stole second and Phil Cerreto walked. Casey Havers doubled to left to score Jones.
UMES got three in the second to take a one-run lead. Bryan Chaikowsky, who hit a robust .615 in the series, started things off with a triple to center and was driven home with a Guy single up the middle.
Guy then stole second with an alert base-running play when the pitcher Troy Dickman held the ball on the mound. Love followed, dropping down a bunt single to put runners on the corners with one out. Phil Vaughn came up big with a base hit through the left side of the infield to knot the game at two. The Hawks took the lead as Remo Orsini raked a doubled down the left-field line with two out to score Love.
Hercinger then drew a walk from Dickman and that was enough for the starter as he was relieved by Matt Gwaltney. Gwaltney got out of the inning with a strikeout but not before the damage was done.
Longwood retook control of the game in the sixth inning, 4-3. Mike Stancik scored from first on a double to left center by Jones with one out. Cerreto then knocked an RBI single to right but was cut down attempting to stretch the play into a double.
Orsini tied the game once again with an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh. The shortstop led off the frame reaching on an error by the third baseman and went to third on a Deutschmann single. He came around as Pichardo singled to right center in his only at-bat.
That spelled the end of the day for Gwaltney as Lance Harting came on induce a groundball out by pinch hitter Ben Vasko to end the inning.
LU took the lead for good with two in the eighth, both with two out, off of reliever Deutchmann, the big blow being a two-run double to center by Havers. The lancers added an insurance marker in the ninth when D.J. Pomposini singled down the left-field line to plate David Smiy, Jr.
Harting pitched 2.1 innings of shutout ball to improve to 5-6 while Deutchmann fell to 1-8. He gave up three runs on seven hits.
Game two was all Lancers as they put together a nine-run second to lead, 10-0, heading into their third at-bat. The Hawks tallied single runs in the second and fourth to account for their only offense.
Chaikowsky began the second with a double to right center and came home when Franklin
Armstrong singled up the middle with no one out to cut the deficit to 10-1.
Down, 12-1, in the fourth, Armstrong singled to shortstop, advancing to second on an error.
Elliott Alston then reached on a second consecutive throwing error by Jones, scoring Armstrong.
Daniel Johnsen (2-0) went all seven innings for his second complete game of the season. He surrendered just one earned run on six hits, one walk and two strikeouts.
UMES starter Matt Witte lasted 1.2 innings and 10 runs (two earned) on seven hits and three walks to drop to 2-4.
Armstrong went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI.
Kimble, Smiy, Jr. and Robby Newman each had three hits for the visitors in the second game. LU banged out 17 hits to close the series.
The Hawks play a makeup game with Temple at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Hawks Stadium before closing the regular season on the road with a four-game set at North Carolina Central May 8-9.