Written by Erin Hughes

The Gaithersburg Giants extended their win streak to three games with a 6-3 victory over the D.C. Grays Thursday night in Gaithersburg. 

Giants starting pitcher Sean McCabe (College of Charleston) recorded eight strikeouts through five innings to maintain momentum for the Gaithersburg squad. Bryce Rudisill (Mount St. Mary’s) hit his second home run of the week in the fourth inning to drive in the game-winning run. 

Grays righty Jamie Whittier (Wofford) fanned two batters to start the game, and right fielder Andy Rivera (Holy Family) ended the first frame with a diving catch to prevent the runner on second from scoring early.

Tyler Wiltsey (Rutgers) laced a one out double down the left field line to get into scoring position early. A single by Tanner Wolpert (Franklin & Marshall) moved Wiltsey over to third before a single by Andy Rivera scored him, giving D.C. a 1-0 lead. Wolpert took third on an error and Rivera stole second, but Giants pitcher McCabe fanned a batter and recorded a putout to leave the runners stranded.

Whittier pitched around a two out error that put Cade Hentz (Jacksonville) on board to catch two batters looking and retire a third via a groundout in the top of the second.

Noel Rivera (Marist) led off the home half of the inning with a double into the left field corner and quickly stole third while the next batter struck out swinging. A bloop single to left field by Ayden Ellis (Rutgers) scored Rivera, but McCabe caught Ellis stealing with the help of his first baseman and shortstop. McCabe fanned a second batter of the inning to limit the Grays' scoring.

In the third, down 2-0, Nate Hawton-Henley (Maryland) drove a one out single up the middle and subsequently stole second to put a Giants runner in scoring position. Brady Powell (Radford) scored Hawton-Henley on a double down the left field line, and Danny Orr (UMBC) singled to move Powell to third. Andrew Holub (Iowa) hit into a fielder’s choice that scored Powell. Rudisill launched a two-run home run to plate Orr and take a 4-2 lead for the Giants.

McCabe went three up, three down in the bottom of the third with two strikeouts and a popup to send the Giants back to the plate. In the top of the fourth Ryan Maxey (St. Johns River State) and Brady Ruiz-Weiss (Yale) knocked back to back singles with one out to force the Grays to bring in a new pitcher. A double by Hawton-Henley scored Maxey and sent Ruiz-Weiss to third. Powell was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but Mason Potter (Hood College) sat down the next two batters to end the frame, the Giants now leading 5-2.

The Grays had runners on first and second with no outs in the bottom of the fourth but could not capitalize as McCabe got a popup and two strikeouts to remove the threat. 

Both pitchers continued to dominate through the fifth and sixth innings. With runners on first and second and two outs, Giants catcher Ethan McNally (Clarion) got Soong stealing at third to end the sixth. 

Despite a leadoff single by Ellis and a walk to TJ Addonizio (Richmond), Ellis was picked off at second by McNally and Addonizio was erased on a fielder’s choice to get two quick outs for the Giants. 

The Giants scored an insurance run in the eighth. Holub hit a sacrifice fly to score Ruiz-Weiss and extend the Gaithersburg lead, 6-2.

Grays southpaw AJ Thomas (Marist) retired three straight Giants batters in the top of the ninth to give his offense one last chance at the plate. The Grays had the bases loaded with two outs as Andy Rivera walked in Addonizio to cut the Giants lead in half. Shane Murphy came in to retire the last batter with a popup on the first pitch he threw to seal the Giants’ three-game win streak.