ARNOLD, MD – The Anne Arundel Community College baseball split its home opener with Delaware Tech Sunday, winning the opener, 11-9, before falling, 4-3, in eight innings in the nightcap. The win marks the first for Head Coach Nick Hoffner, who took over the program in November 2020.
AJ Zeak earned his first collegiate victory in the first game, striking out four and allowing one run on four hits through four innings. Matt Johnson picked up his first save of the season, fanning the final two batters of the game with the bases loaded to preserve the win.
Zeak, who moved to first after his debut on the mound, had a pair of RBI and scored a run for the Riverhawks. Jon Alderman went 2-for-3 and scored twice, while Ian Adams crossed the plate three times from the leadoff spot.
Zeak and Johnson drove in a run each in the first to see AACC take an early lead, but Delaware Tech cut the lead in half in the second, plating one on a two-out sac fly to right.
The Riverhawks took advantage of four walks and their commitment to small ball in the fourth to explode for seven runs on just two hits in the frame.
Delaware Tech answered right back with six runs on four hits and three errors in the top of the fifth, cutting AACC's lead back to two, 9-7.
Lennie Lehner sparked a two-out rally by driving in a run in the bottom of the fifth before EJ Santana scored on a wild pitch, extending the lead to 11-7.
Delaware Tech's added a pair on a two-run home run in the sixth, but reliever Chris Paugh regained composure to strike out the next batter and escape the inning.
With the bases loaded in the seventh, it looked like Delaware Tech might have one last shot, but Johnson struck out the final two batters to claim the Riverhawks' first win of the season.
The second game proved to be a much closer affair with only nine combined hits and extra innings needed to decide a winner.
Riverhawk errors in the second proved costly as Delaware Tech took a 1-0 lead before adding another in the fifth on a two-out single to left.
After leading off the bottom of the fifth with a single, Cam Rees moved ahead on an Alderman double and came across the plate on a Parker Jones ground out to make it 2-1 in favor of the visitors. Rees came up big in the sixth, driving in a pair of runs on a long single. He led the Riverhawks with a 2-for-3 game at the plate.
Delaware Tech tied the game in the top of the seventh with an RBI double, again aided by a pair of Riverhawk errors in the inning.
AACC got one aboard in the bottom of the seventh, but a short pop up yielded a double play to send the game to extra innings.
Delaware Tech's winning run came on a two-out home run in the top of the eighth and AACC went down in order against Delaware Tech's closer in the bottom of the inning.
Tripp Templeton shouldered the loss for AACC in relief despite striking out four in 3.2 innings. Starter Bradley Zoellner fanned six and walked one while giving up two runs on two hits through 4.1 innings.
AACC hosts Montgomery College Saturday, March 13, in a noon NJCAA Region XX doubleheader.