Game 1 Box Score (USCGA 7 – USMMA 5)
Game 2 Box Score (USCGA 9 – USMMA 0)
 
FORT MYERS, Fla. (March 5, 2017) – The USMMA baseball team opened the 2017 season on Sunday with a doubleheader loss to arch-rival Coast Guard on the first day of the Gene Cusic Classic down in Florida. The Mariners dropped the first game, 7-5, and were shut out in the second game, 9-0.
 
The Bears jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning of the first game, however Merchant Marine quickly answered back with three runs in the top of the fourth.
 
Senior Matthew Thomson (Memphis, Tenn.) drove in freshman Matt Mundorf (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) with a double and then Thomson scored two batters later on a wild pitch. Junior Bryson Campbell (Cool, Calif.) platted freshman Wyatt Wilson (Chandler, Ariz.) to close out the scoring in the inning.
 
Coast Guard tacked on two more in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-3 lead. Both teams scored a run in the sixth. The Mariners' run came on another wild pitch that Thomson scored on. Trailing 7-4 going into the top of the seventh, USMMA threatened with a one-out double by Mundorf followed by an RBI single by junior Alex Gambino (Haddonfield, N.J.), however a double play ended the contest.
 
Senior Nathan Slusarczyk (Woodbury, N.J.) suffered the loss after hurling three innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on three hits with two strikeouts. Sophomore John Kelly Jr. (Apex, N.C.) tossed three innings in relief and gave up three runs on four hits.
 
For Coast Guard, senior Colton Cannon earned the victory with 5.1 innings of work, giving up four runs (two earned) on three hits with seven K's. Freshman Brett Sullivan picked up a save pitching the top of the seventh.
 
In the second game, the Mariners were shutout and were held to just six hits. Wilson and senior Francis Grzymkowski (Stafford, Va.) had two hits apiece and Thomson and junior Steve Lucy (Leawood, Kan.) recorded the other two.
 
Senior Eric Vrissis tossed the complete game shutout for the Bears, striking out three along the way.

Junior Justus Martin (Eaton, Colo.) suffered the loss after tossing four innings, allowing four unearned runs on five hits with two strikeouts. 

Merchant Marine's three-game series against Coast Guard concludes on Monday morning, with a single nine-inning game scheduled for 9 a.m. Live stats will be available for the contest by following this link.
 
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