By Stephanie Dowling, Staff Writer
After establishing a stellar four-run lead, the Susquehanna University baseball team dropped their season opener 8-7 against no. 25-ranked Christopher Newport University in a closely fought game on Saturday, Feb. 22 in Newport News, VA.
During the fourth inning, Susquehanna scored six runs with multiple players scoring. Senior outfielder Alex Burman scored on an RBI walk by senior infielder Craig Roumes.
Senior outfielder Justin Miller and sophomore infielder Adam Schreck also both scored on a CNU error. Roumes then came home on an RBI single by junior catcher Peter Yarem and sophomore outfielder Evan Knapp and Yarem scored on a two-RBI double by junior infielder Chris Corrado.
Christopher Newport, responded in a massive way, however, answering Susquehanna’s burst with a grand slam followed by a solo home run.
In the eighth inning, Corrado singled to shortstop, stole second, and advanced to third on a single from senior infielder Anthony Dombrowski. Burman then launched a single to centerfield, sending Corrado home and tying up the game at seven.
Christopher Newport once again responded, however, as junior Evin Baer led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a home run to reclaim the lead for the Captains. Senior Brian Owens then kept Susquehanna scoreless in the ninth inning, earning the save and securing the victory for Christopher Newport.
“It’s a learning experience,” Susquehanna head coach Denny Bowers said.
“I felt like we played well enough to win, but we did make a few mistakes we had to come back from.”
The River Hawks then had a quick turnaround, but once again came up short, falling 12-5 to Shenandoah University on Sunday, Feb. 23 in Winchester, VA.
After a scoreless first two innings, Shenandoah took the lead in the bottom of the third on an RBI single., but in the top of the fourth, Susquehanna momentarily found some life, though the half-inning ended with three River Hawk runners left on base.
Shenandoah then exploded for six more runs, increasing the score to 7-0. The onslaught then continued in the fifth inning, as the Hornets added two more runs on an RBI single to increase the lead to 9-0.
Yarem finally got the River Hawks on the board in the sixth inning with a solo home run, but Shenandoah once again answered, extending their lead to 12-1.
Burman scored in the eighth and Yarem hit his second home run of the day to drive in three runs, but the effort was not enough, as Susquehanna suffered a 12-4 defeat.
“Overall I think we played okay for our first two games of the season,” Miller said.
“The two teams we played already had six or seven games under their belt while we had zero going into the weekend. I think we played a little too passive and need to be more aggressive”
Roumes shared a similar sentiment.
“We are going to get back to the basics and continue to work hard,” he said. “This past weekend was a learning experience. There were a lot of good things that happened but there were also bad things that we will learn a lot from and continue to get better.”
The River Hawks will be traveling to Union, NJ this weekend to face Haverford College on Saturday, Feb. 29 and Kean University on Sunday, March 1.