EARLY EXPLOSION COMPLETES SWEEP

Southern Maryland Defeats ‘Stormers, 9-5

Just six pitches into the bottom of the first inning, it appeared that Southern Maryland was on its way to a series sweep.  The Blue Crabs were never headed.

Jack Sundberg greeted Augie Sylk (2-6) with a double to left center on an 0-2 pitch.  Michael Wielansky followed with a towering homer to left.  Jared Walker blasted the second delivery he saw onto the hillside in right, and the Blue Crabs were on their way to a 9-5 win over the visiting Lancaster Barnstormers at Regency Furniture Stadium.

Southern Maryland added three more runs off Sylk during the rest of his six-inning tenure.  The lefty yielded 10 hits overall while walking two and striking out six.

Lancaster managed only a two-out solo homer by Colton Shaver in the fourth and trailed, 6-1, heading into the bottom of the seventh when the Blue Crabs added two more runs off newcomer Wes Albert in the seventh, an inning keyed by a Joe DeLuca triple to right center.

Mitch Lambson (5-1) carried a four-hitter into the eighth, but the Barnstormers were able to catch some breaks and drew closer.  Shawon Dunston, Jr. reached on his third single of the game, a slow bounder on the right side of the infield.  Melvin Mercedes dropped a single into shallow right, and Andretty Cordero reached on a single behind second base against lefty Nick Wells.  LeDarious Clark’s grounder to third baseman Ian Yetsko was fired into right field for an error as two runs scored.  Trayvon Robinson walked to reload the bases, moving the tying run into the on deck circle.  Shaver and Anthony Peroni drove in runs on outs, but the Barnstormers never would get the tying run to the plate.

Wielansky made certain as he led off the bottom of the eighth with his second homer of the day.  Endrys Briceno recorded the final five outs for his second save.

The Barnstormers head to York to take on the Revolution at 6:30 on Tuesday evening.  Fans may tune into the Barnstormers YouTube Channel at 6:25.

NOTES:  Shaver now has eight extra base hits in eight games…Dunston extended his on-base streak to 10…Lancaster is 0-9 against the Blue Crabs on the season…Southern Maryland reduced its magic number to two.