UMBC

Senior Steve Russo batted .571 with a double and two runs scored on Saturday.

BALTIMORE—The UMBC baseball team dropped both sides of a doubleheader to Longwood, as it fell 6-3 and 8-6 on Saturday afternoon at The Baseball Factory Field at UMBC.  The Retrievers (6-12) led in both games, but gave up a five-run fifth inning in game one and a three-run sixth inning in game two as they fell to the Lancers (16-10).

Junior Scott Peddicord (Columbia, Md./Long Reach) and senior Steve Russo (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) led the Retrievers from behind the plate, batting .571 for the day with Peddicord tallying one run scored and one batted in and Russo crossing the plate twice with a double.

Junior Dan Blewett (1-4) (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) and senior Will Delawter (0-2) (Frederick, Md./Catoctin/Chesapeake JC) suffered the losses for the Retrievers as Blewett went the distance in game one, giving up six runs, five earned, on nine hits, while striking out five in seven innings and Delawter giving up eight runs, seven earned, on 10 hits while fanning two in 5.2 innings of work.

The Lancers got on the board first in game one off an RBI double by Paul Heidler in the top of the second, but the Retrievers quickly reciprocated and took a 2-1 lead after freshman Rich Conlon (Vienna, Va./James Madison) knocked a ball just over the third baseman’s head for a two-RBI double.

The Retrievers added one more run to that lead in the fourth off another Conlon RBI double, but the Lancers answered back with a five-run fifth inning, which saw three different players homer, as they notched the 6-3 victory.

Game two saw both teams’ bats come alive early as the Lancers tallied four runs in the first off a grand slam by Casey Havers and the Retrievers added three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning thanks to an error which put junior Tom Meaney (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem) on base and scored senior Joe Fowler (Wilmington, Del./St. Mark’s) and a two-run homer by Delawter, his first of two in the contest.

The Retrievers took a 5-4 lead in the third after a lead-off home run by Delawter, his second of the day, but the Lancers knotted the score at five apiece in the fourth with a homer from Robbie Bailey.

An RBI single by Peddicord gave the Retrievers the 6-5 lead, but it would be their last of the game as the Lancers recorded a three-run sixth inning on the way to the 8-6 victory.

Both teams will meet for the series finale on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. at The Baseball Factory Field at UMBC.