The Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks defeated the Delaware State Hornets 7-5 in their series finale at Bob Reed Field on April 12. The win gave the Hawks a 2-1 edge in the weekend series.
The outcome is significant as it marks another victory for the Hawks during a challenging season, improving their record to 7-24 overall and 6-12 in conference play. The Hornets fell to 3-29 overall and 3-15 in conference games.
A leadoff home run set the tone for Maryland Eastern Shore, with a two-run homer later in the first inning giving them an early three-run lead. After four scoreless innings pitched by Williams, the Hawks added more runs in the fifth with RBI singles that extended their advantage to six runs. However, Delaware State rallied between the fifth and eighth innings, narrowing the gap to just one run.
In response, Maryland Eastern Shore hit another home run in the ninth inning for insurance before Santiago closed out with a scoreless ninth inning to earn his first collegiate save. The team finished with seven runs on fifteen hits and committed one error; Delaware State tallied five runs on twelve hits and two errors.
Williams recorded a career-high six strikeouts over six innings pitched. According to team statistics, “The Hawks have won four out of the seven games in which Cade has started this season.” Jimenez and Taylor each collected three hits for UMES, while Gonzalez Perez notched his tenth home run of the year—surpassing Brantley Cutler’s nine-home run mark from last season.
With this road trip concluded, Maryland Eastern Shore will return home for nine of their next ten games at Hawk Stadium starting Friday against Mercyhurst.
