UMBC

Fairfax, VA - George Mason freshman right-hander Stacen Gant overcame a slow start to allow seven hits in eight innings as the Patriots defeated UMBC, 9-1, in a non-conference baseball game Tuesday afternoon at Raymond H. "Hap" Spuhler Field.George Mason won its sixth straight game to improve to 20-17, while UMBC had a nine-game win streak snapped as it fell to 20-12.Gant (2-2) allowed three hits in the first inning as UMBC scored its only run, with Retriever sophomore Rick Guarno hitting a one-out double and scoring after singles by senior Jared Boyd and junior Brad Glascock. Gant allowed two more hits in the second, but settled down to retire twelve batters in a row and allow just two hits over the next six innings.George Mason got a run-scoring single in the second to tie the score, then took the lead for good as senior Brian Anderson hit a two-run homerun, his fifth of the year, in the third. Junior Mike Taylor and Bruce Baldwin hit back-to-back doubles to make the score 4-1 in the fourth before the Patriots broke the game open with four runs in the fifth. Sophomore Jeff Palumbo scored the final run in the sixth as Kevin McNeil hit into a double play.Freshman Matt Farina (2-2) took the loss for the Retrievers. With his first-inning single, Boyd became the eight player in UMBC history to record 200 career hits and now has 201.