Less than an hour after dropping the conclusion of Tuesday's suspended game, the Mariners were back at it in Folsom Lake attempting to split the first two games of their season series with the Falcons.
Though Folsom Lake jumped out to a four run lead, the Mariners chipped away throughout the game and took a 5-4 lead in the eighth inning on a Matt Tarantino single. Unfortunately the lead was short lived as the Falcons third baseman Kale Leach rocketed a two run homer into the seats to put Folsom Lake ahead 6-5, a lead they would not relinquish.
Eric Smith started the game a bit shaky for College of Marin, as he walked the leadoff hitter, struck out the next two before allowing another walk. Nick Shumacher of Folsom College lined a single, scoring two for Folsom Lake before Smith struck Leach to end the inning. The second inning was equally wild as Folsom Lake loaded the bases on a pair of walks and an error and no outs. Smith pulled a Houdini act by striking out the next two hitters and getting the third out on a fly ball to right. Folsom Lake did add two more in the third on a two run homer by Shumacher to give his team a 4-0 lead.
Down by four in the top of the fourth, the Mariners began their comeback. Marcus Chiu led off with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Tarantino. Jaymes Potts relieved Smith and shutdown Folsom Lake for four innings while the Mariners rallied. In the sixth inning Brad Bussey rocketed the first pitch of the inning over the fence for a solo homerun, cutting the Folsom Lake lead to 4-2. Tarantino led off the seventh with a double and scored on a passed ball with two outs to bring College of Marin within one.
The pivotal inning for the Mariners was the eighth as Chris Norman reached on an error to lead off, after Bussey popped out and Paul O'Sullivan struck out, the Mariners loaded the bases on a pair of walks. Tarantino delivered the go ahead RBI single to put the Mariners up 5-4. They were unable to add on, and Leach's fly ball in the bottom half cleared the fences for the 6-5 Falcon's lead and the win.
Tarantino had two hits and three RBI for College of Marin. Potts pitched well in relief, hurling five innings with four hits, two runs and three strikeouts, but was tagged with the loss.
The Mariners enjoy a bit of a rest period as they host Contra Costa on Tuesday, March 15th at 2:30PM.