MYRTLE BEACH, SC (March 9, 2024) – Susquehanna baseball opened their spring break trip to Myrtle Beach with a tough loss against the University of Hartford on Saturday night, playing a tight game with the Hawks for the first five innings before a landslide ten-run top of the sixth allowed Hartford to pull away, ultimately winning 19-5.
The River Hawks looked primed for a strong showing in the early innings, matching an opening inning run from Hartford with one of their own, then taking a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 2nd before doubling their run tally to four in the bottom of the third. A lead-off double from Lance Book was followed by a shot over the right field fence from Thomas Romanelli, and SU looked poised for more, but ultimately ended the inning stranding two runners on base. This proved a theme for the River Hawks, as they left 14 total runners on base in the game.
Hartford responded in the top of the 4th with back-to-back home runs to tie the game up at four each, then taking the lead in the 5th on a fielding error, following a bottom of the 4th that saw SU once again strand two runners.
After turning in a strong start through five innings despite the pair of home runs, Ryan Redmond stepped aside in the top of the 6th, finishing with three earned runs on five hits while striking out a season-high eight batters. But the close game quickly became anything but as Hartford piled on ten runs in a snowball inning. After leading off with a home run, things continued to compound against SU as they gave up eight hits and committed three errors, seeing Hartford's run total balloon from five to 15.
The mountain was simply too big to climb from there for the River Hawks. They managed to hold Hartford's offense relatively in check from there, though a three-run home run in the top of the 8th, the Hawks' fifth home run of the game, contributed to a four-run frame that stretched the score to 19-4. Susquehanna answered with a final run in the bottom of the 9th, seeing first-year Griffin Shenman come home to score after singling in his first career at-bat, scoring on a sacrifice fly by fellow debuting first-year Ronnie Manfredo.
SU will hope to quickly put this one in the rearview and turn things around tomorrow, as they'll be back in action at 9 pm, taking on New England College.
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--RIVER HAWKS--
