WILMINGTON, N.C. – After dropping a double-header to Florence Friday night, the Wilmington Sharks needed a win to get back on track in the Coastal Plain League second half standings. Behind solid pitching and timely hitting while taking advantage of some errors, the Sharks were able to down the Morehead City Marlins (17-14, 2-1 CPL second half) 6-4 Saturday night at Buck Hardee Field in front of a season-record crowd of 3,017.

The Sharks (15-17, 1-3 CPL second half) struck first in the second inning. After Alex Hill singled to right, he advanced to second on a balk by Marlins starting pitcher Shawn Armstrong (L, 2-2).  Chris Mazza would move Hill over to third on a groundout. There, he forced Armstrong into another balk which brought him home to make it 1-0. The run was Wilmington’s first in 20 innings.  Morehead City had issued just two balks all season long before Armstrong issued two in the inning.

The Sharks used that lead to bring their bats to life in the third.  A Riche Allen double to right field scored Justin Robey from third to make it 2-0. Nate Horton then singled to third base, scoring Aaron Miller from third. Kenny Bryant reached on an error by the shortstop Chris Taylor, which scored Horton and Allen to make it 5-0.

The Marlins would grab two back in the third to make it 5-2. After loading the bases, Sharks starter Ryan Leach (W, 1-1) allowed a sacrifice fly to Brian Litwin scoring Stephen Marino. After Chris Taylor grounded into a fielder’s choice for the second out, Preston Shuey singled to right field, scoring Luke Smierciak from second.

Wilmington added one more run in the fourth inning when Miller doubled to right field, scoring Robey all the way from first to make it 6-2 Sharks.

Armstrong finished with four innings pitched, allowing five hits, six runs, four walks and struck out two.  After the fourth, the Marlins bullpen came in and allowed only one hit over the final four innings.

In the sixth, the Marlins chipped away at the lead to make it 6-3. Shuey singled, scoring Litwin from second on the play. The Marlins repeated the feat in the seventh when Marino doubled to right center, scoring Joe Sclafani from first to make it 6-4.

Leach went six innings, allowing five hits, three runs, three walks and two strikeouts.  After Blaze Tart lasted just one-third of an inning, allowing two hits, a walk and a run, Patrick Szczerba came in to get the Sharks out of a seventh-inning jam.  Szczerba would then retire the Marlins in the eighth before giving way to closer Patrick Mincey, who worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his fifth save.

Offensively, the Sharks got multi-hit nights from Aaron Miller and Alex Hill.  Both were 2-4.  Miller had an RBI and a double, one of two extra-base hits for the Sharks on the night.

The Sharks return to action on Independence Day when they travel to Morehead City for a rematch with the Marlins. After a day off Monday, Wilmington returns to the Shark Tank on Tuesday, June 6 as they take on the Florence RedWolves. Tuesday is Time Warner Cable Two fer’ Tuesday where fans can get two for one deals on tickets, drinks and hot dogs. It’ll also be Budwesier Party on the Patio where fans can spend an evening enjoying draft beer from Budweiser. Gates open at 6:00 p.m. and first pitch is at 7:05 p.m.