The bats were quiet for both teams until the bottom of the third inning. Dominic DeSabantino started the inning with a pair of strikeouts before walking Rubi Silva and Jared Walker. The cleanup hitter, David Harris, bounced a double down the first baseline, scoring Rubi Silva, giving the Blue Crabs a 1-0 lead.
Southern Maryland's lead quickly evaporated. The Lancaster Barnstormers recorded three straight hits to start the inning, with Mark Zagunis driving in Kelly Dugan. From there, Daryl Thompson settled down, recording the next three outs.
The Blue Crabs broke the tie in the bottom of the seventh inning. After Chase Johnson (L, 0-1) worked a quick sixth inning, the Blue Crabs bats got to him in the seventh. With one out, Jack Sundberg lined a double into center field, with the ball just out of LeDarius Clark's diving reach. Two batters later, with two outs and Sundberg on second, Jared Walker ripped a double down the right-field line, scoring Sundberg and giving the Blue Crabs a 2-1 lead.
Daryl Thompson left after six innings of work, allowing one run on eight hits. The bullpen dominated from there. Nick Wells (W, 2-0) worked a clean seventh inning, while Endrys Briceno struck out the side in the eighth. Mat Latos (SV, 4) entered the game in the ninth. After recording a couple of flyouts to start the inning, Mat Latos induced a ground ball to shortstop to end the game, giving Southern Maryland a 2-1 win.
The Blue Crabs broke a franchise record tonight with their ninth straight win, beating out two eight-game win streaks from 2013 and 2015. Southern Maryland also won the game 2-1, despite being outhit by the Barnstormers 10-5. The Blue Crabs look to extend their record-breaking streak tomorrow when the Blue Crabs return to Regency Furniture Stadium for game two of the series at 6:35 pm.
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