SALISBURY, MD - The Delmarva Shorebirds scored six unanswered runs and held off a late charge to beat the Asheville Tourists 6-5 on Friday night at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.Cameron Bishop (1-0) settled down after a rocky first inning, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits in six innings.
SALISBURY, MD - The Delmarva Shorebirds scored six unanswered runs and held off a late charge to beat the Asheville Tourists 6-5 on Friday night at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.
Cameron Bishop (1-0) settled down after a rocky first inning, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out six on the way to the first Shorebirds (2-0) quality start of the season.
Breiling Eusebio (0-1) took the loss for the Tourists (0-2), allowing four runs on seven hits in 4.2 innings. Alex Katz worked out of trouble in the ninth to notch his first save of the year.
After getting shut out the night before, Asheville opened the scoring immediately with two in the first. Ryan Vilade worked a one-out walk, stole a base, and came in to score on a Casey Golden RBI double. Golden later swiped third and scored on a passed ball to boost the Tourist lead to 2-0.
Delmarva got one of those runs back in the bottom of the second. Ben Breazeale led off with a single, and Trevor Craport doubled him to third two batters later. Ryan Ripken then put the ball in play for an RBI groundout to score Breazeale.
Zach Jarrett led off the third by getting ahold of an Eusebio fastball for the first Shorebird home run of the season, tying the game at 2-2. Kirvin Moesquit followed with a single and promptly stole second base. Three batters later, Breazeale found the hole on the left side for a two-out single, plating Moesquit to make it 3-2 Shorebirds.
Will Robertson knocked in another run in the fifth with a comeback line drive up the middle to score Moesquit. Robertson got in on the act again in the seventh, leading off with a single. After a strikeout, T.J. Nichting laced a grounder down the left field line and into the corner for a double. Robertson raced home and slid in ahead of the tag, and Nichting promptly took third on the throw. Nichting's awareness paid off on the very next pitch, as he scampered home on Craport's sac fly to center, making it 6-2 Delmarva.
The Tourists fought back in the top of the eighth, producing a run on three straight singles from Shael Mendoza, Vilade, and Golden. After a popout, Chad Spanberger beat out a fielder's choice, and Vilade scored from third to make it 6-4.
Bret Boswell welcomed Katz into the game by taking him to left for an opposite field home run to lead off the ninth, cutting the Delmarva lead to one run. Katz then embarked on a LaLooshian journey, striking out Taylor Snyder on three pitchers and walking Hidekel Gonzalez on four. After Mendoza fanned on three pitches, Vilade worked out a five-pitch walk, putting the tying and go-ahead runs on base for Golden. Katz went quickly ahead 0-2 but Golden fouled off four two-strike pitches to stay alive. Pitch number seven was the lucky one for Katz, who tied up Golden inside with a breaking ball for the game-ending strikeout, sending a paying Perdue Stadium crowd of 4,188 home happy.
Moesquit sparked the Delmarva offense from the leadoff slot, finishing 4-for-5 with two runs and four stolen bases. Jarrett finished 2-for-4 with his solo home run; he also showed off range in left field, making a leaping catch against the wall in the second inning and gunning down Snyder trying to stretch a single into a double in the fifth.
Golden finished 2-for-5 with a double, run, stolen base, and two RBIs to pace the Tourists. Vilade went 2-for-3 with pairs of runs and walks, as well as one of three Asheville stolen bases on the night.
2017 Shorebird starter Zach Muckenhirn pitched two innings in relief for the Shorebirds to pick up a hold in his first appearance of 2018, helping the Shorebirds to their first 2-0 start since 2011.
The Shorebirds will go for their first 3-0 start since at least 2005 against the Tourists on Saturday night. Right-hander Matthias Dietz begins his second season in Delmarva with a start against Asheville righty Erick Julio. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. with gates opening at 4:00 for batting practice. Saturday night is another Hit the Books game presented by Dr. James M. Crouse at the Brace Place. It's also the first Q105 postgame fireworks show of the season. Pregame coverage on Fox Sports 960 AM and the MiLB First Pitch App begins at 6:50 with Will DeBoer on the call.
