Salisbury’s baseball team received a wake-up call at roughly 10:30 a.m. on Monday.

Unfortunately, by then, the Hornets’ seventh-place game in the Cliff Peeler Baseball Classic had been under way for half an hour. Statesville (8-13) took full advantage of Hornet misplays to score eight runs in the first two innings and went on to post as easy 11-3 win.

“The first two innings, we played like we were still asleep,” said Salisbury coach Scott Maddox. “You make your bed and you lie in it. We weren’t ready to play and Statesville was.”

Salisbury (2-14) picked up three runs in the third on hits by Todd Utech, Barry Medinger, Tommy Ludwig, Boo Blount and Jack Campbell. That closed the gap to 9-3.

Then the Hornets had a legitimate chance to make a game of it in the fifth inning when two walks and an error filled the bases with no outs. But the Hornets failed to scratch, much less hatch a big rally. Statesville starter Tyler Combs came all the way back from a 3-and-0 count to fan Campbell. Then Ludwig was picked off second and Marlo Rary struck out to end the inning. After that, the Hornets couldn’t get anything going.

Salisbury kicked it around enough to wreck some decent pitching by ace Boo Blount, who has picked up both the team’s wins this season.

“I was really disappointed today,” said Maddox. “This was a game we figured we had a pretty good chance to get.”

n

NOTES:Salisbury’s off the rest of the week, then plays three winnable Central Carolina Conference games next week. “We can still finish fourth,” said Maddox. “That’s not what you shoot for, but it is the top half of the league.” ... Statesville’s Adam Wihelm powered a two-run homer to lead the Greyhounds’ 12-hit assault. ... Ludwig went 2-for-3 to boost his batting average to .333, while Medinger (.262) drove in his team-leading fourth run of the tournament. ... The Hornets have dropped seven straight since a 13-3 romp over Lexington.