By Dave Diamond
The Pride baseball team found a way to be notably impressive and yet somewhat disappointing in the same weekend, falling 5-4 in extra innings in the rubber game of its opening CAA series against UNC-Wilmington on Sunday. The team erased a four-run deficit before allowing the winning run to score.
Pride reliever John Fuhrman struggled by walking three men in the bottom of the 10th inning, including a bases-loaded walk to UNC-Wilmington’s Matt Poulk that ended the game. The team dropped to 5-12, but all five of those wins have come in the previous seven games, and the Pride looked strong against the team considered by most to be the best in the conference.
The Seahawks built a 4-0 lead with four hits in the third inning off Pride starter Patrick Rogers. With one out, UNCW’s junior catcher Chris Hatcher blasted a 1-0 pitch from Rogers over the right field wall for a solo home run, his sixth of the young season. Things got worse for Rogers when Jonathan Batts and Justin Barefoot added an RBI single and double, respectively, to widen the gap.
Rogers did not throw another pitch after the inning, as Pride head coach Chris Dotolo called on Ryan Dunn, who has struggled as a starter this season but held the Seawhawks scoreless over three and two-thirds innings of work. Also, Dunn allowed the Pride time to fight back.
“Coach let me know Friday that I was coming out of the bullpen Sunday,” Dunn said. “So even though we were down 4-0 when I came in, I knew if I could hold them there, it would give us a chance to win.”
The Pride cut the deficit in half with two runs in the fifth and sixth innings. In the fifth, second baseman Andy Campana lined an RBI single, and Josh Stewart drew a bases loaded walk from Seahawk starter Zach Booker for the second run of the inning.
The next inning, Pride slugger Ricky Caputo led off with a single and advanced to third on a wild pitch followed by a passed ball. Sophomore first baseman Matt Kougasian drove Caputo in on a ground out, but the most exciting play of the game happened during the next at bat.
Priding itself in its ability to win games with small-ball, the Pride called for a suicide squeeze with Oliveri on third. Freshman Nick Panzarella put the bunt down perfectly, allowing the game-tying run to score.
Furthering the momentum was the clutch work of relievers Dunn and Anthony Sarno throughout the middle innings. The Seahawks could not find a way to grab a lead despite loading the bases in both the fifth and seventh innings.
“Our bullpen did a good job holding them so that we could get back in the game,” Oliveri said. “We just had some trouble down the stretch executing.”
The Pride fared no better at the plate, so it was just a matter of time before UNCW grabbed the winning run. In the tenth, Kenny Smith drew a one-out walk from Fuhrman and Hatcher reached when Campana booted a ground ball. Designated hitter Lee McLean drew his third walk of the game before Poulk grabbed the game-winning RBI with a walk of his own. There were two outs when the run scored.
Ricky Caputo has half of the team’s home-run total with three.