The Blue Crabs looked to take the series lead Saturday Evening after trading wins with Lancaster to start the four-game series at Regency Furniture Stadium.  Southern Maryland (35-23) took the lead in the second inning with a single by Octavio Martinez to score Jeremy Owens from third.

That was the only run the Blue Crabs’ pitching staff needed, pitching an 8-0 shutout.  Lancaster (28-30) had plenty of chances to score in the early innings, but Blue Crabs’ starter Kenny Rayborn pitched out of three early jams. Rayborn stranded seven baserunners from the second to fourth innings.

In the fifth inning, the Blue Crabs expanded the lead to three runs. John Ramistella led off the inning with a single and Mike Just reached base on a fielder’s choice error.  Travis Garcia hit a ground-rule double to score Ramistella from second. Then, Patrick Osborn picked up an RBI with a ground-ball out that scored Mike Just from third.

Rayborn started to warm up in the middle innings, retiring six straight at one point. However, after 94 pitches through 6 innings of work, Manager Butch Hobson decided to go to the bullpen with the three-run lead.  Rayborn (5-4) picked up the win, finishing with no runs allowed on 5 hits and 3 walks, while striking out 3.

The Blue Crabs added another run in the seventh inning before Lancaster’s starter Eric Ackerman was pulled. Just scored from second on an Osborn single.  Ackerman (2-5) picked up the loss, with 6.1 innings pitched, giving up 4 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks.

In the eighth inning, Ramistella hit a bases clearing double and later scored on a Just sacrifice fly to expand the lead to eight runs.  With the Blue Crabs win and Long Island’s loss to Camden Saturday, Southern Maryland has a five-game lead and the magic number for a first-half title and playoff spot is 8 wins for the Blue Crabs.