Myrtle Beach, SC – Eliezer Vázquez tallied three hits and two RBIs, while AJ Campi had two hits, but the Roos fell 8-5 to the Bridgewater State Bears in their final game of their Spring Break trip in South Carolina Friday afternoon.  

THE BASICS

• Result: Bridgewater State 8, SUNY Canton 5
• Location: Ebbets Field – Myrtle Beach, SC
• Records: SUNY Canton (3-5) | Bridgewater State (5-3)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Roos scored a pair in the first inning. Campi led things off with a base hit, then Chris McLean was plunked to join him on the bases. Vázquez followed with a double down the right field line to score both runners and give the Roos a 2-0 lead.
• After the Bears got a whole lot of nothing at the plate through the first two innings, they got going in the third inning with a walk, a triple in the gap, followed by a sacrifice fly to tie the game 2-2.
• Bridgewater State tacked on two more in their next at-bats with a double, a walk, an error, and a wild pitch. Then they scored again off of back-to-back doubles in the fifth to take a 5-2 advantage and then once more in the sixth.
• After the strong first inning, the Roos did not get much done with the bats in the next few innings. They did have two runners on in the fourth with a walk drawn by Mark Maybee Jr. and a single by Derek Maldonaldo but could not get either home.
• Into the bottom of the sixth, the Roos got some help from the Bears' defense with two errors plus a pinch-hit single by Jared Paone packing the bags with nobody out. A double play ensued after this which did bring a run home as the Roos cut into the deficit.
• To begin the bottom of the seventh, the Campi had a single sandwiched between two outs, but then Diaz had a base hit which scored Campi as the Roos got within two.  Vázquez then nearly hit one out but settled for a double to put two into scoring position. SUNY Canton scored another one from a wild pitch to make it 6-5 heading into the final couple of innings.
• However, the lead was back up to 8-5 for Bridgewater State into the second after the Roos surrendered a couple of free passes in the inning and the Bears stringed together some hits to make it a three-run ball game as SUNY Canton had six outs remaining.
• SUNY Canton had a big threat in the bottom of the eighth with Maybee Jr. and Jayden Cunningham both aboard with a walk and a single, respectively, but a couple groundball outs kept the Roos off the scoreboard in the inning.
• After two strikeouts to begin the bottom of the ninth, Vázquez was able to reach with a base hit to short. Paone was up next but lined out sharply into right field as the Roos fell short against the Bears.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Vázquez has now tallied seven hits over his past three games for the Roos with five of these being doubles. After a 2-for-16 start to the season, the Puerto Rico native now sits at a .310 batting average heading home with conference play approaching.
• Feil started and went 5.1 innings for SUNY Canton. The trio of relievers consisting of Shane McClellan, Alfredo Pabón, and Brady Roberts combined for 3.2 innings pitched with three strikeouts and not allowing an earned run.
• Ryan Flaherty had a nice day at the plate with two hits, including a double and a triple. Starting pitcher and winning pitcher Patrick Chapin went seven innings, allowing four earned runs while fanning seven.
• The Roos had 11 hits in the game, beating the Bears who had just seven despite the eight runs. However, four of the hits for Bridgewater State were for extra bases and the Bears also committed two errors while the Roos were at four, as well as drawing eight walks.

WHAT'S NEXT?
SUNY Canton will return to New York but play another neutral site game at the Gutchess Lumber Sports Complex in Cortland as they take on the Elmira Soaring Eagles for the second time this season on Tuesday, March 17 at 4 p.m.  
   

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