Box Score

SALISBURY, Md. - The Navy baseball team took a wire-to-wire victory over Maryland Eastern Shore on Wednesday with a final score of 13-6. The Mids (13-4) opened up the game at Perdue Stadium with four runs in the first inning and six more before the Hawks (1-14) broke into the scoring column in the bottom of the sixth.

The fast start for Navy revolved around the efforts of Nicholas Elder (So., Roanoke, Va.), and Jacob Williamson (So., Sims, N.C.) and Christian Hodge (Jr., Winder, Ga.) at the plate. In his first start of 2018 and first game action since Feb. 25 versus Air Force, Elder opened the game with five scoreless innings before two unearned runs crossed home in his sixth and final inning of work. Offensively, Williamson and Hodge combined to drive in all five of Navy's runs over the opening three innings. Their quick and productive starts to the contest carried over throughout the game as Williamson ended his day 3-for-4 with three runs, two RBIs and a triple, while Hodge posted a team-high three RBIs.

"Nick Elder did a great job," exclaimed head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "He had thrown three innings coming into today, and they were three good innings against Air Force, but he really did a nice job of getting outs for us. We played really good baseball for the first six innings and then we let it get away from us and get sloppy down the stretch. Offensively, getting 18 hits is a real nice day.

"Hodge and Williamson were really good for us. I thought Jake had five good, complete at bats. Our offense scoring four runs in the first inning came from good approaches. We kept that up for most of the game. I though Christian and Jake, along with Stephen Born were right on the ball all day. You like to see your guys in the middle of the lineup doing that and getting the job done."

The non-conference game began with Navy sending nine batters to the plate in the top of the first inning. Five of the first six batters reached with Williamson driving in Logan Knowles (Sr., Port Orchard, Wash.) and Stephen Born (Sr., Strafford, Pa.) for the game's first two runs. Two batters later, Hodge mirrored Williamson's output with a two-run single of his own.

Up 4-0, the Mids added a fifth run in the top of the third as a leadoff triple by Williamson quickly turned into a score as Hodge lofted a sacrifice fly to left field.

Navy doubled that five-run lead over the next three innings with two runs in the fourth, one in the fifth and two in the sixth. The Mids scored their two runs in the fourth with two outs as Born singled in Michael Coritz (So., Clifton, Va.) before Evan Lowery (So., Williamsburg, Va.) drew a bases loaded walk. In the fifth, Alex Smith (So., Stafford, Va.) came in to make it 8-0 as he advanced to third base on a Coritz single before coming home on a fielding error. The final two runs of Navy's 10-0 start to the game were scored in the sixth as Coritz singled in Williamson and Ryan Duffey (Fr., Duxbury, Mass.) drove Tristan Capocci (Fr., Villa Rica, Ga.) in.

All the while his offense was doing damage at bat, Elder continued to hold the line on the mound with five scoreless innings to start and just three hits allowed.

With the score 10-0 in favor of the visitors after the top of the sixth, the host Hawks took advantage of a Midshipmen error in the bottom of the sixth to make it 10-2.

Navy's bats continued to make noise as run number 11 came in the top of the seventh. A pair of doubles, first a leadoff drive down the left field line by Aaron Ahn (Fr., Marlboro, N.J.) and later a two-bagger to the same spot by Lowery, manufactured the Mids' run.

In his first inning out of the bullpen, Jack Ferguson (Fr., Atlanta, Ga.) struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh.

After Navy was held off the scoreboard for the first time since the second inning, Eastern Shore shaved two runs off its deficit in the bottom half of the eighth.

The last frame saw both teams plate two runs to make the final score 13-6 Navy. The Mids' offense in the top of the ninth was kick started by another Ahn leadoff double. The freshman eventually came into score on a Matthew Wilcox (Jr., Los Gatos, Calif.) fielders' choice ground out. Navy's second RBI in the ninth came from Gabe Schilke (So., Fredericksburg, Va.) and his sacrifice fly.

For the game, Navy outhit Maryland Eastern Shore, 18-10. 11 different Mids, including all nine starters registered hits. Williamson (3), Ahn (2), Born (2) Coritz (2), Hodge (2), Lowery (2) and Smith (2) all had multiple hits.

Of note, Born's fourth inning RBI was the 100th of his 161-game career.

In his first start of 2018, Elder threw 76 pitches over 6.0 innings and allowed two unearned runs on four hits and a walk. The sophomore right-hander struck out four Eastern Shore batters.

Navy will have a quick turnover as the team will be back out on the road tomorrow afternoon at Delaware State. First pitch between the Mids and Hornets is set for 3 p.m. on Thursday.