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News Release

BASEBALL NEWS AND NOTES

3/28/2005

Eric Butkiewicz is 5.1 innings away from becoming UMBC's all-time leader in innings pitched.

Baltimore, Md. – The UMBC baseball team heads out for five games on the road in the next week and a half before coming home to host Stony Brook in the America East Conference Opener on April 9.  UMBC plays all local non-conference programs this week, including making up an earlier season postponement with George Mason.  Click on the full story for the latest news and notes on the 2005 UMBC baseball season. 

LOOKING AHEAD                                     

This Week:

3/29   UMBC at Maryland, 4 p.m.

3/30   UMBC at George Washington, 3 p.m.

3/31   UMBC at Navy, 2:30 p.m.

4/3     UMBC at George Mason, 1 p.m.

UMBC Starts The First Of Five Away Games On Tuesday

The UMBC baseball team heads on the road for the first of five away games prior to their home conference opener the weekend of April 9-10.  UMBC begins play this week at Maryland on Tuesday, travels to George Washington on Wednesday and plays at Navy on Thursday.  UMBC has rescheduled an earlier season rain out to Sunday, April 3 at 1 p.m. at George Mason.  Last year UMBC went 0-2 against Maryland, falling at home 21-4 and 2-0 at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen, Md.  UMBC dropped two to George Washington as well while splitting with Navy, each winning at home.  George Mason won both contests last year in the Retrievers’ series with them.  UMBC entering this week is 1-7 on the road and 3-3 at home.

WEEKLY WRAP

UMBC Takes 1-of-2 In Virginia Road Trip

UMBC defeated Richmond 10-8 while falling 13-5 to William & Mary last week in a two-day trip to the two Virginia native schools.  UMBC was out hit 16-13 by Richmond but scored four runs in the fourth and six in the seventh en route to the win.  Freshman Steve Russo, who was tabbed Rookie of the Week by the conference office the previous week, went 2-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored.  Eric Butkiewicz picked up the win, going 5.0 innings allowing seven hits and two runs.  After Richmond rallied to close the gap to 10-8 in the eighth inning, Kyle Wildasin came in relief to pick up the save, his first of the year and ninth for his career.  Wildasin also went 3-for-4 at the plate with a run and RBI. 

UMBC jumped ahead 5-0 after two innings of play but saw William & Mary score the final 13 runs of the game to top UMBC, 13-5, on Wednesday afternoon.  The game was delayed 1 hour and 10 minutes due to rain but went without stoppage once the game was started.  Alex Laddbush extended his hit streak to seven games with a two-run homerun in the first and a double in the second.  Laddbush went 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored in the game. 

UMBC Splits Doubleheader With Buffalo

UMBC and Buffalo split two seven-inning games last Friday with the Bulls taking game one, 8-5, and UMBC winning game two, 5-3.  In game one UMBC dropped behind 8-0 after a six-run fifth inning by Buffalo.  The Retriever tallied five runs in the bottom of the fifth but would get no closer in the 8-5 loss.  Kyle Wildasin at the plate went 3-for-4 with a double, one run scored and an RBI.  In game two, the long ball produced much of the action as four homeruns highlighted the scoring.  Joe Mihalics for Buffalo hit two homeruns and drove in all three Bulls’ runs while Mark Lemon hit a three-run homerun and Wildasin tallied a solo shot for UMBC in the 5-3 victory.  Jon Pavlis threw a complete game for the win going 7.0 innings allowing three runs, two walks and striking out four. 

DAWG BITES

Wildasin’s Hit Streak Ends At Nine Games

Senior Kyle Wildasin hit streak ended at nine games after going 0-for-4 at William & Mary last week.  Wildasin extended his hit streak to nine to open the week at Richmond with a 3-for-4 performance.  After going hitless at William & Mary, Wildasin started a new streak with hits in each of the two games against Buffalo and has hit safely in 12-of-14 games this year, seven of them multi-hit performances.  For the season Wildasin is batting .379 with five doubles, a homerun, six RBI and 10 runs scored.  Last year he hit in 22 out of 23 consecutive games with hit streaks of 10 and 12.  Zach Clark’s 13-game hit streak last year was the only longer one on the season. 

Laddbush Emerges In Retriever Line-Up

Sophomore transfer Alex Laddbush continued his hot stroke at the plate with six hits last week and a .429 batting average.  Laddbush, who has six multi-hit games and just ended a seven-game hit streak, cracked his second homerun of the year with a two-run shot in the first inning at William & Mary.  Last week Laddbush recorded three RBI, one homerun, one double, three runs scored and a .714 slugging percentage.

Newcomers Going Deep

Of UMBC’s eight homeruns this year, all but one has come off the bat of a newcomer.  Last week Mark Lemon, Alex Laddbush and Ian Carman all connected deep on a homerun.  Carman, Lemon and Laddbush all lead UMBC with two homeruns each while Joe Fowler has one.  The Retrievers only returnee with a homerun is Kyle Wildasin, who led UMBC last year in long ball category.

Butkiewicz Earns First Win Of The Year

Senior Eric Butkiewicz earned his first win of the season after going a strong 5.0 innings at Richmond.  Butkiewicz allowed two runs on seven hits with five strikeouts in the game.  Butkiewicz has pitched 21.0 innings this year and leads the team with 16 strikeouts.

Pavlis Goes Distance Against Buffalo

Jon Pavlis, who was coming off a rough outing at Richmond, threw a complete game against Buffalo at home getting his first win of the year in UMBC’s 5-3 victory.  Pavlis went 7.0 innings allowing three runs, walking two and striking out four.  Pavlis on the year has a 6.75 ERA with 13 strikeouts in a team-high 25.1 innings pitched. 

Steve Russo Named America East Rookie Of The Week

Freshman Steve Russo was named America East Conference Rookie of the Week by the conference office for the week ending March 20, 2005.  Russo that week went 3-for-6 from the plate with a run scored and RBI.  Russo played in two games, going 2-for-4 at the plate with a start against Buffalo.  Russo started the Retrievers scoring against the Bulls, singling up the middle in the second inning to drive in teammate Tom Rinaldi.  Russo later singled in the game for his second hit and was brought to the plate on an RBI groundout by Anthony Socarras.  Russo ended the week 1-for-2 at the plate against Georgetown.  On the season Russo is hitting .353 with three RBI and two runs scored.  Russo holds a team-high on base percentage of .476.   

16-Inning Contest Longest In School History

UMBC’s 16-inning game against Old Dominion stands as the longest baseball game in UMBC baseball history.  The Retrievers tied the game in the ninth inning at 4-4 which stood idle until a run in the bottom of the 16^th inning by host Old Dominion gave the Monarchs a three-game sweep.  The 16-inning affair also proved to be the longest in Old Dominion’s history as well.

RETRIEVER RECORD CHASING

Jancuska’s  600 Career Win Watch At 10 Games

UMBC skipper John Jancuska is on the verge of 600 career wins, all coming during his 28 year stay at UMBC.  Jancuska entered the 2005 campaign with 586 career wins, 14 shy from accomplishing the 600-win plateau.  Jancuska split last week going 2-2 to move to 10 away from 600 with 590 career wins.  Jancuska’s Retrievers have four games on tap this week.

Butkiewicz Chasing All-Time Marks

Senior Eric Butkiewicz is in reach of three all-time career marks in the UMBC Pitching record books.  Butkiewicz entered the season second in starts, fourth in innings pitched and fifth in career strikeouts.  To date this season Butkiewicz has three starts, pitched 21.0 innings and recorded 16 strikeouts.

UMBC Pitching Games Started Chart

    Name                                 Starts

1. Tom Bloom                      50

2. Eric Butkiewicz               41

3. Bill Gerhardt                     36

    -bold denotes active player

UMBC Pitching Innings Pitched Chart

    Name                                 IP

1. Tom Bloom                      282.1

2. Kevin Loewe                     281.2

3. Ben O’Connor                  278.2

4. Eric Butkiewicz               277.0

    -bold denotes active player

UMBC Pitching Strikeouts Chart

    Name                                 Strikeouts

1. Ben O’Connor                  201

2. Kevin Loewe                     200

3. Tom Bloom                       198

4. Bill Gerhardt                     194

5. Eric Butkiewicz               191

    -bold denotes active player

Wildasin On Track To Become All-Time Leader In Appearances

UMBC senior Kyle Wildasin is on track to become the all-time UMBC leader in appearances, trailing Eric Weltmer who made 70 pitching appearances at UMBC.  Wildasin made two appearances on the mound in the first seven games of the season, surpassing Tom Bloom for second place all-time.  Wildasin holds first and second place on UMBC’s single-season chart for games played.  Eric Butkiewicz is tied for seventh all-time.

UMBC Pitching Appearances Chart

    Name                                 Appearances

1. Eric Weltmer                    70

2. Kyle Wildasin                   67

3. Tom Bloom                       63

4. Kevin Loewe                    57

5. Ray Hall                             56

6. Eric Butkiewicz               54

    -bold denotes active player

Wildasin Adds To Career Saves Mark

UMBC senior Kyle Wildasin added to his UMBC all-time career saves mark with a save against Richmond.  Wildasin entered in the eighth inning after Richmond had closed the gap to 10-6 and held bases loaded with no outs.  Wildasin pitched UMBC out of the eighth and threw a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his ninth career save.              

UMBC Pitching Saves Chart

    Name                                 Saves

1. Kyle Wildasin                   9

2. Ira Carlson                       6

    Eric Weltmer                     6

    -bold denotes active player