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News Release

BASEBALL NEWS AND NOTES—Night Baseball Returns To UMBC

4/11/2005

Night Baseball returns Tuesday Night.

Baltimore, Md. – Night Baseball returns to UMBC on Tuesday night at the Retrievers host Navy at 7 p.m.  The first 150 fans will receive a free hot dog and coke as part of Opening Night Festivities.  On Wednesday night, UMBC will host Georgetown at 7 p.m. with “Youth Night” and National Student Athlete Day.  A pregame ceremony will take place honoring all of UMBC’s 170-plus 3.0 student athletes. 

LOOKING AHEAD                                     

This Week:

4/12   Navy at UMBC, 7 p.m.  Opening Night – First 150 Fans receive free Hot Dog and Coke

4/13   Georgetown at UMBC, 7:00 p.m.  “Youth Night” “National Student Athlete Day” Pre-game ceremony for UMBC’s 3.0 Club

4/16   UMBC at Maine, 12 p.m. (DH)

4/17   UMBC at Maine, 12 p.m.

Night Baseball Returns To UMBC   

Night Baseball returns to UMBC on Tuesday, April 12 against Navy at 7 p.m. and Wednesday, April 13 at 7 p.m. as the Retrievers host Georgetown.  Tuesday night’s game will feature a free hot dog and coke to the first 150 fans in attendance celebrating Opening Night.  Wednesday’s game against Georgetown will also be a part of National Student-Athlete Day Festivities at UMBC along with “Youth Night” at the Baseball Factory Field at UMBC.  Prior to the start of Wednesday’s game all 3.0 student athletes for the fall semester will be honored.

UMBC Heads To Maine For Conference Weekend Series

The Retrievers will travel to Maine to play the Black Bears in a three-game set this weekend with a nine-inning, seven-inning doubleheader on Saturday and a nine-inning series finale on Monday.  The series will mark the second weekend in a row UMBC has faced a conference tournament participant from last year as UMBC’s first two series are against last year’s championship game participants.  Maine was the No. 2 seed heading into the conference tournament last year.  Maine took last year’s series against the Retrievers, 3-0, at The Baseball Factory Field at UMBC.

WEEKLY WRAP

Retrievers Upend Maryland before dropping 2-of-3 to Stony Brook in Conference Opener

UMBC played four games last week finally making up a postponement with George Mason, taking on the Terps at Maryland for the second consecutive week and hosting Stony Brook in the America East Conference opening weekend.  UMBC went 2-3 on the week with wins against Maryland and the series finale with Stony Brook.

George Mason 9, UMBC 2

Five George Mason pitchers combined to hold UMBC to three hits as the Patriots defeated the Retrievers, 9-2, in a non-conference game.  The Patriots scored two runs in each of the first two innings, taking advantage of a UMBC error in each frame. UMBC starter Zach Clark allowed four runs in his three innings of work, but only 2 of which were earned. UMBC got a run back in the third inning when left fielder Joe Fowler homered. But George Mason scored three times off reliever Steve Evans in the fifth inning and posted single runs in the sixth and seventh.  Retriever second baseman Ian Carman doubled home a run in the seventh for UMBC’s final run of the day.

UMBC 9, Maryland 7

UMBC sophomore Mike Scheffel hit two homeruns including a two-run shot in the top of the ninth inning to break a 7-7 tie as the Retrievers defeated Maryland, 9-7, in non-conference baseball action on Wednesday night at Shipley Field.  Scheffel finished 2-for-5 with two homeruns, three RBI and two runs scored as the Retrievers defeated Maryland for the first time since April 28, 1999.  Blake picked up the win finishing the final three innings of the game as UMBC used five pitchers with conference play beginning on Saturday.  Phipps, who had his worst outing of the season against the Terps last week, allowed just two hits over the 3.0 innings of scoreless baseball as he moves to 2-1 on the year. 

Game 1:  Stony Brook 5, UMBC 4 (10 Innings)  Game 2: Stony Brook 9, UMBC 3

The Stony Brook Seawolves won both games of Saturday afternoon’s doubleheader with host in both schools America East Conference openers at The Baseball Factory Field at UMBC.  The Seawolves rallied for a 5-4 10 inning win in game one and scored eight runs in the final three innings to win 9-3 in game two.  In game one Jon Pavlis went 7.2 innings allowing nine hits, three runs, two earned runs with one strikeout and no walks.  Phipps took the loss going 2.1 innings allowing two earned runs on three hits with two walks and a strikeout.  Jon Lewis started for Stony Brook, going 8.0 innings allowing seven hits and four runs, three earned.  Lewis struck out 10 Retriever batters and walked one.  Nick Abel took the win to improve to 1-3, going the final 2.0 innings with one hit allowed and one strikeout.  In game two starter Brian Murtagh captured the win to move to 3-2 for Stony Brook.  Murtagh went 4.0 innings allowing two hits and two runs scored.  The Seawolves in game two scattered 15 hits through seven innings.    Zach Clark for UMBC took the loss, 0-3, allowing three earned runs and seven hits in 4.0 innings.  Seawovles’ lead-off hitter Andrew Larsen went a combined 7-of-10 on the day with four runs scored.  Stony Brook tallied a combined 27 hits compared to 13 by UMBC but made six errors to UMBC’s four.  Kyle Wildasin and Zach Clark for UMBC each recorded hits extending hit streaks to eight and seven games respectively.    

Game 3:  UMBC 5, Stony Brook 3

 UMBC Baseball senior Eric Butkiewicz  tied UMBC’s all-time mark for strikeouts after sitting down five Stony Brook batters on Sunday afternoon in UMBC’s 5-3 America East Conference win over the Seawolves.  Butkiewicz settled in after the first, sitting down the Seawolves in order in the second and going the next five innings keeping Stony Brook off the board. Butkiewicz moved to 2-4 on the year going 7.0 innings allowing 10 hits, two runs , four walks and striking out five.  Butkiewicz tied Ben O’Connor with 201 career strikeouts for first all-time in UMBC’s career pitching chart.  Steve Evans captured his first carrer save allowing one run in 2.0 innings, giving up two hits and striking out two.  Mike Scheffel went 4-for-4 at the plate and Alex Laddbush 3-for-3 as UMBC cranked out 12 hits in the game. 

DAWG BITES

Eric Butkiewicz Ties Career Strikeouts Mark

Senior Eric Butkiewicz struck out five batters against Stony Brook and tied the all-time career mark with 201 career strikeouts.  Butkiewicz, who entered the season with 175 strikeouts, has sat down 26 batters to date this season.  Butkiewicz became just the third player in Retriever history to record 200 career strikeouts. 

UMBC Pitching Strikeouts Chart

    Name                                 Strikeouts

1. Eric Butkiewicz               201

    Ben O’Connor                  201

3. Kevin Loewe                     200

4. Tom Bloom                       198

5. Bill Gerhardt                     194

    -bold denotes active player

Eric Butkiewicz Adds To All-Time Innings Pitched Mark

Senior Eric Butkiewicz became UMBC’s all-time career leader in innings pitched after throwing 7.0 innings at George Washington on March 30.  Butkiewicz now has pitched 294.0 career innings in the UMBC black and gold.

UMBC Pitching Innings Pitched Chart

    Name                                 IP

1. Eric Butkiewicz               294.0

2. Tom Bloom                      282.1

3. Kevin Loewe                     281.2

4. Ben O’Connor                  278.2

    -bold denotes active player

Scheffel Heats Up

Sophomore outfielder Mike Scheffel batted .364 last week with two doubles, two homeruns, four RBI and six runs scored.  Scheffel held a .727 slugging percentage and hit the gamewinner, a two-run homerun against Maryland in the top of the ninth inning for the UMBC victory.  Sheffel’s batting average jumped .074 points last week as he recorded hits in four consecutive games.  Scheffel enters this week batting .294.

Wildasin Hit Streak Goes To Nine Games, 18-of-last-19

Junior Kyle Wildasin last week extended his hit streak to nine consecutive games and has a hit in 18 of UMBC’s last 19 games.  Wildasin, who leads the team batting .360, tied his earlier season hit streak of nine games.  In 21 games played, Wildasin has a hit in 19 contests and 31 on the year. 

Newcomers Going Deep

Of UMBC’s 13 homeruns this year, all but four have come off the bat of a newcomer.  Freshman Joe Fowler hit his team-high third homerun of the year last week and newcomers Alex Laddbush, Ian Carman and Mark Lemon all have two homeruns this year. 

Pavlis Emerging As Retriever Starter

Jon Pavlis recorded his third consecutive solid start against Stony Brook, going 7.2 innings allowing nine hits, three runs, two earned runs with one strikeout and no walks.  Pavlis is 2-0 in his last three starts, holding an ERA of 1.99, allowing six earned runs in 23.2 innings pitched with 12 strikeouts. 

Evans Earns First Save 

UMBC Sophomore Steve Evans earned his first save of his college career completing the eighth and ninth innings against Stony Brook in UMBC’s 5-3 win.  Evans entered the game in the eighth and gave up two tough hits, one that took a bad hop in centerfield and another that slid up the middle under the gloves of Anthony Socarras and Ian Carman.  Evans than settled in, retiring the next six batters, including striking out two to end the eighth and forcing three straight ground outs to shortstop to end the ninth. 

Tom Rinaldi Named America East Conference Player of the Week For Week of April 3

Sophomore Tom Rinaldi was named America East Conference Player of the Week for the week ending April 3, 2005.  The sophomore Rinaldi had an outstanding week behind the plate for the Retrievers, playing in two of UMBC’s three games in three days, hitting an impressive .700 with three doubles, three RBI and a 1.000 slugging percentage. Rinaldi went 3-for-4 from the plate against George Washington, recording a double in the game. The next day at Navy, Rinaldi went 4-for-6 from the plate, recording his first four-hit game as he drove in three runs, scored one and cracked two doubles, leading UMBC to an 11-2 win over Navy. Rinaldi on the season is batting .395 with 10 RBI, five doubles and a .512 slugging percentage. Rinaldi enters this week with a seven game hit streak.

Lemon Garners America East Rookie of the Week Honors For Week of April 3

Freshman Steve Lemon was named America East Rookie of the Week for the week ending April 3, 2005.  Lemon batted .333 for UMBC and held a .429 on base percentage scoring one run and driving in two. He had two hits at Maryland and gathered two more at Navy, going 2-for-4 from the plate against the Midshipmen, scoring on run and recording two RBI in UMBC’s 11-2 win.

Steve Russo Named America East Rookie Of The Week For Week of March 20

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 Seven 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 went 2-3 last week to move to seven games away from 600 with 593 career wins.  Jancuska’s Retrievers have five games on tap this week.

Butkiewicz Chasing All-Time Starts Mark

Senior Eric Butkiewicz entered the season in reach of three all-time career marks in the UMBC Pitching record books and accomplished two already, becoming UMBC’s all-time leader in innings pitched and tying the career strikeouts mark.  Butkiewicz entered the season second in starts, fourth in innings pitched and fifth in career strikeouts.  With two starts last week Butkiewicz needs six to tie that all-time mark.

UMBC Pitching Games Started Chart

    Name                                 Starts

1. Tom Bloom                      50

2. Eric Butkiewicz               44

3. Bill Gerhardt                     36

    -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 pitched.  Eric Butkiewicz is tied for fourth all-time.

UMBC Pitching Appearances Chart

    Name                                 Appearances

1. Eric Weltmer                    70

2. Kyle Wildasin                   68

3. Tom Bloom                       63

4. Kevin Loewe                    57

    Eric Butkiewicz               57

    -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