The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs defeated the Camden Riversharks 5-2 as starting pitcher Ian Marshall struck out a season-high nine batters Friday night at Regency Furniture Stadium. Marshall earned his sixth win of the season as he allowed just two runs (two earned) on four hits in the contest. The Blue Crabs bullpen would then come in and finish what Marshall started by allowing no runs, one hit and four more strikeouts for a total of 14 strikeouts on the night. With the win, the Riversharks were eliminated from contention in the first half of the playoff race. 

The Riversharks and Blue Crabs would exchange hits in the first frame of tonight’s game and Southern Maryland would then break away with a run in the bottom of the following inning. After Camden starting pitcher Armando Gabino would strikeout the first two batters he faced, second baseman Waldimir Sutil would go deep for his second home run of the season and the 2-1 lead. The Riversharks would tie the game in the fifth after Camden’s Burt Reynolds would double and would score after DAngelo Jimenez singled to right field. Again the Blue Crabs would answer back in the sixth, starting with a walk by Ryan Mulhern. Outfielder Cyle Hankerd would then double, followed by a single from Jeremy Owens for the 3-1 lead. Camden would then make a pitching substitution in favor of relief pitcher Jon Velasquez, but the ensuing batter – Sean Smith , would slice a single to score two more runs, which would settle for the eventual 5-2 final. 

UP NEXT- The Blue Crabs will play the middle game of a three-game series against the Camden Riversharks Saturday. The game 6:35 p.m. is “Deaf Awareness Night” and also features post-game fireworks and party on the field. Southern Maryland will then continue then wrap-up the series Sunday before beginning the second half of their seven-game homestand Monday verse the Lancaster Barnstormers. Fans can listen to the Blue Crabs live broadcast Saturday by tuning into www.phoenixintermedia.com with pre-game beginning at 6:15 p.m. Fans cans also follow the Blue Crabs on www.somdbluecrabs.com, on Facebook (Southern Maryland BlueCrabs), on Twitter (@BlueCrabs) and on Instagram (BlueCrabsBaseball). 

 

Camden 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 – 2 7 0 
S Maryland 1 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 x – 5 11 0 

WP: I. Marshall (6-3) 
LP: A. Gabino 
S: None 
Attendace: 2,680 

BLUE CRABS HIGHLIGHTS: 

RF Sean Smith – 3-for-5, 2 RBI 
INF Jose Julio-Ruiz – 2-for-4, 2B, RBI 
2B Wladimir Sutil – 2-for-3, HR, R, RBI 
OF Cyle Hankerd – 2-for-3, 2B, R