UMBC

Senior Steve Russo was 2-for-4 with four RBI in the win over Mount St. Mary's.

BALTIMORE—Two three-run innings in the fourth and fifth gave the UMBC baseball team its first win in four outings as the Retrievers downed Mount St. Mary’s, 9-5, on Tuesday at The Baseball Factory Field at UMBC.

The Retrievers (6-9) played in their first home game in over two weeks and were led by the bats of junior Tom Meaney (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem) and senior Steve Russo (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) who both went 2-for-4 on the day.  Meaney crossed the plate twice for the Retrievers, including a solo homer in the eighth, and batted in two more, while Russo totaled four RBI in the contest.  Sophomore Ed Bach (2-1) (Columbia, Md./Atholton) earned the win after pitching seven innings while giving up just four runs on 10 hits and striking out one.

Drew Counselman led the Mount (1-16) as he went 3-for-5 with one run scored, a triple, and one RBI, while Max Brittenham (0-4) lost his fourth game of the season after giving up seven runs, six earned, on 10 hits in five innings of work.

The Retrievers jumped on the board in the second off Russo’s RBI single that scored junior Shawn Retz (Baltimore, Md./Western Tech/Catonsville C.C.), but the Mount answered back in the top of the fourth, thanks to a Retriever error, and knotted the score at one.

UMBC took back the lead for good, however, in the fourth with a three-run inning that started with a lead-off double by Retz.  After freshman Bryan Russo (Westbury, N.Y./Clarke) walked and freshman Rich Conlon (Vienna, Va./James Madison) singled, Steve Russo reached on an error which plated Retz and junior Brad Brainer (Chester, Md./Kent Island/Chesapeake JC) drove in Bryan Russo with a single as the Retrievers took a 3-1 lead.  Junior Wink Nolan (Ellicott City, Md./Calvert Hall/Maryland) added one more run in the fourth with a sacrifice fly to give the Retrievers a three-run lead going into the fifth.

Bach retired the Mount batters in order in the top of the fifth and the Retrievers added another three runs in the bottom of the inning thanks to hit by pitch by Bryan Russo which scored senior Will Delawter (Frederick, Md./Catoctin/Chesapeake JC) and a two-RBI single just over the second baseman’s head by Steve Russo to give the Retrievers a 6-1 lead.

An RBI single by Meaney put the Retrievers up 8-1 after the sixth before the Mount cut that lead to four runs with a three-run inning of their own in the top of the seventh.  The lead was cut down even further in the eighth after redshirt freshman Austin Drewyer (Ellicott City, Md./River Hill) relieved Bach and gave up a home run with his first batter to make the score 8-5.

Meaney added a home run of his own in the eighth, however, to give the Retrievers the 9-5 win over the Mount.

UMBC held a 14-11 advantage on hits and committed one error to the Mount’s three.

The Retrievers will return to action when they travel to College Park, Md. on Wednesday night to face the Terps before hosting Longwood in a three-game series beginning with a 6:00 p.m. contest on Friday night.