(Waldorf, MD., May 12, 2018) - The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (4-9) won game two against the Road Warriors (4-11) 7-0, behind a strong offensive output.
The Road Warriors threatened right away, loading the bases in the first inning. Melvin Rodriguez got things going with a double down the left field line, before Geraldo Valentin was hit by the first pitch he saw. Two batters later, a walk to Gustavo Pierre filled the bases with two down in the inning. Brandon Cumpton (1-1) then forced a groundball to short, stranding all three runners and escaping the inning.
Southern Maryland then wasted no time grabbing the lead, as they put up a run in the bottom of the first. Johnny Bladel continued his hot streak by leading off the inning with a single. An error allowed Bladel to advance to third, setting up a sacrifice fly from Ryan Strausborger to open the scoring on the night.
Andrew Daniel came up as the leadoff man in the second inning, jumping on a first-pitch fastball for a solo homerun. Two batters later, Bladel doubled to keep the inning alive, and bring up Joey Wong. Wong laced a single back up the middle, easily scoring Bladel from second to take a 2-0 lead.
Cumpton continued strong on the mound, silencing the bats of the Road Warriors. The right-hander allowed just two hits through six scoreless innings, putting himself in a position to earn his first win. The offense added some extra insurance in the bottom of the sixth, as Frank Martinez and Devon Rodriguez went back-to-back on doubles, scoring the first run in the inning. A single from Bladel allowed Rodriguez to score as well, as two were added to the tally in the inning.
The offense wasn’t quite finished yet, as the Blue Crabs added another pair in the seventh inning. Strausborger started the frame with a single, coming around to score on another double from Rodriguez. Edwin Garcia followed with an RBI single, bringing Rodriguez around for the second time on the night.
The bullpen took over the seven-run lead and picked up right where Cumpton left off. Craig Stem, Shane Watson, and Paul Clemens all combined to shut down the rest of the way. Clemens came in for his debut in the ninth, picking up two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 inning, shutting the door on the 7-0 win.
The Blue Crabs return to action Sunday, May 13th for the series finale of the three-game home series against the Road Warriors. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 P.M. on Sunday 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.