The Motorboaters went out in a blaze of glory on Sunday night, as they staged a furious seven run rally in the eighth inning to secure the 13-6 victory over the Peninsula Pilots. Ty Bothwell (Indiana) got the nod to start for the Motorboaters, and he gave up two runs in the top of the first inning. Trey Morgan got the action started in the first with a double with one out, and Justin Starke walked to put to put two runners on for Zach Morris, who singled in Morgan and Harris to give the Pilots an early 2-0 lead.

After surrendering an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first, the Boater bats got to work in the bottom half. Joseph Mershon (College of Charleston) walked, and Nate Anderson (Gardner-Webb) singled to put two runners on with no outs against Pilots starter Jay Schueler. Trent Youngblood (Transylvania) doubled in Mershon, and the Motorboaters would cut the lead in half at 2-1. A Braylin Marline (Newberry College) batted ball and a throwing error by Pilots third baseman Mason Dunaway scored Anderson and  advanced Youngblood to third with one out. A groundout to short by Dan Tauken (Albany) brought home Youngblood for the third run of the inning and propelled the score to 3-2 in the Motorboaters’ favor.

The second and third innings went through in quick order, but the fourth turned the game upside down and in favor of the Pilots. With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the fourth, Luke Waters slashed a double into the outfield to score two runs for the Pilots to take a 4-3 lead.

Cade Carlson (ETSU) came in in relief of Bothwell, who went 3.1 innings, giving up five hits and six runs, walking five batters and striking out four. Carlson allowed both runners that Bothwell left on to score, as Dunaway scored on a wild pitch, and Waters came around to score on a Morgan RBI double.

With the score standing at 6-3 in favor of the Pilots to begin bottom of the fourth, the Motorboaters began their climb back into the ballgame. Evan Scavotto (Portland) was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the fourth. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, and to third on a Will Walsh (Nebraska) single, before coming around to score on a Mike Kenney (Mount Olive) 6-4-3 double play.

With a 6-4 lead the Pilots looked comfortable holding the lead into the bottom of the sixth, when the Motorboaters tacked on two more runs to tie the game. With the bases loaded and two outs, Mershon got a good pitch to hit and ripped a single into the outfield that would score two runs and tie the game at 6-6.

Entering a tied ballgame in the bottom of the eighth, the Motorboater bats broke out in an explosive way. The seven run eighth inning that broke the propeller off the Pilots’ plane started with Scavotto getting smoked by a Pilot pitch and heading down to first. Scotty Young (Rutgers) would come in to pinch run for Scavotto and Walsh knocked him in with an RBI double to take the lead 7-6. With runners at first and third, Zach Marriott (Hendrix College) would keep the line moving with an RBI single to score Walsh to make the score 8-6 in the Boaters’ favor.

A Youngblood double in the gap with the bases loaded would score two more runs as the offensive explosion in the eighth would continue, but the boys weren’t done yet. Up 10-6, Tauken would reach first on a wild pitch that would bring in two unearned runs to bring the score to 12-6 before Tauken would come around to score another run on yet another wild Pilot pitch. This would sway the contest 13-6 in the Motorboaters favor. In the top of the ninth, Jacob Kroeger (Maryville) came on to finish the job and secured the Motorboaters 13-6 win over Peninsula.

With the win, the Motorboaters move to 11-4 in CPL play. The Motorboaters will return as the Marlins on Monday as they face the Wake Forest Fungo in a seven-inning exhibition game. First pitch from Big Rock Stadium is scheduled for 7PM.