Morehead City, NC – The Marlins lost a heartbreaker on Friday night as they dropped a rain shortened contest to the Wilson Tobs 3-0 in six innings. Ryan Devanney (Sacred Heart) got the nod to start on the bump for the Marlins, as Trent Harris got the start for the Tobs.

The first inning started in fast fashion, as Devanney mowed down the Tobs in short order, striking out Matthew Cooper with a buried slider to end the top of the first. In the bottom of the first, Trent Youngblood (Transylvania) slashed a double just fair down the third base line in hopes of starting a rally, but Harris stranded Youngblood to end the threat.

The second inning saw two base runners get on for the Tobs after a walk and a single, but a flyout by Tobs catcher Connor Price to Youngblood in right field ended the inning. The bottom of the second would go down 1-2-3 for the Marlins and push a scoreless game to the top of the third inning.

Ty Bothwell (Indiana) came on in relief of Devanney, who pitched two scoreless innings with three strikeouts, and got in immediate trouble in the third. A single and a McGwire Tuffy (Quinnipiac) throwing error put two runners on with no outs. With one out in the inning, the Tobs would plate two runs on back-to-back RBI singles by Cooper and Patrick Fultz to propel them ahead 2-0 headed to the bottom of the third.

A Scotty Young (Rutgers) single and a Joseph Mershon (College of Charleston) walk put two runners on with one out in the bottom of the third for the Marlins, but Harris would escape damage, as Youngblood flew out to shortstop, and Tobs right fielder Elias Stevens made a fantastic sliding catch on a Nate Anderson (Gardner-Webb) liner for the third out of the frame.

Up 2-0 in the top of the fourth against Bothwell, the Tobs attempted to add on but came up short as Price would be left stranded at second following his double.

The Tobs defense shown brightly in the bottom half, as a 5-4-3 double play turned by the Tobs infield would erase a Braylin Marine (Newberry College) single, and keep their 2-0 lead headed to the fifth inning.

In the fifth Bothwell pitched a 1-2-3 inning as it ended with a single by Fultz who got in a pickle as Bothwell picked him off for the third out. In the bottom half the Marlins left two on as Shayne Campbell (Reinhardt) hit a single and advanced to second on an error, and Young beat out a ball in the infield to advance Campbell to third and leave runners on the corners.

Heading into the sixth inning, the Tobs held a 2-0 lead. Wilson would add on to their lead as Connor Price came to the plate with the bases loaded and smacked a single to score Scott Mackiewicz. Bothwell would then strike out two batters and force a ground out to end the top of the sixth with the Marlins now trailing 3-0.

The Marlins looked for a two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth as Tobs reliever Jonah Milchuck forced two straight flyouts. Dan Tauken (Albany) came to the dish and smacked a ball into left center, sliding into second just under the tag for a double. Tuffy then worked a full count before watching the fourth ball come in for a walk. Their two out rally hopes would come to an end as Milchuck struck out Dylan Rogers (Appalachian State) on a full count pitch to end the with the Tobs still on top 3-0.

The skies opened in the top of the seventh. With rain cascading down and lightning crashing around Big Rock Stadium, the game was called early as a 3-0 Tobs win through six innings. With the loss, the Marlins drop to 18-10 on the season. They will look to bounce back against Wilmington on Saturday in the first of four straight games versus the Sharks. First pitch is scheduled for 7PM from Buck Hardee Field. The game will be available to stream on the Marlins’ Mixlr channel.