Baseball Splits MDJUCO Opener at Southern Maryland

LA PLATA, MD.  – The Anne Arundel Community College baseball team split a Maryland JUCO twinbill at the College of Southern Maryland Saturday. AACC won the opener, 7-1, before dropping game two, 8-4.

Infielder Ethan Grieb went 4-for-8 on the day with two RBI and a home run in the first game. Jacob McDonald allowed one hit and fanned nine in his first complete game win of the season.   

AACC put up two runs in the first, third, and seventh innings of the opener, scoring a single run in the sixth. Will Burchick drove in three runs in the game in a 2-for-3 effort at the plate.

The Riverhawks batted around in the first inning, seeing both runs cross courtesy of Burchick. CSM got one back in the bottom of the inning on their lone hit of the game, a double from former Riverhawk Andrew Leginze.

Burchick drove in two runs with a single in the third before Grieb's solo shot in the sixth. Grieb collected an RBI in the seventh as a pair of runs crossed on a bases loaded single.

McDonald faced just 24 batters in the game, and held the Hawks hitless for six innings.

CSM used a six-run second inning to calm the Riverhawks in game two. AACC cut the lead in half in the third on two hits and a pair of errors, and saw Christian Murphy drive in another run in the fifth to make it 6-4 in favor of the home team. The Hawks took advantage of a Leginze single and a throwing error in the sixth to pick up two more runs and shut the Riverhawks down in order in the seventh to hold on for the win.

Starter Aiden Cassilly shouldered the loss with six runs (five earned) on three hits in 1.2 innings. Reliever Zach Ford struck out five while giving up one hit in 3.1 innings of scoreless work. Kyle Wortz closed out the game striking out two while allowing two runs on two hits.

AACC (6-6) continues MDJUCO action Tuesday in a 5 p.m. doubleheader at Division I Harford Community College.