UMBC

Freshman Rich Conlon tallied the first home run of his collegiate career on Friday.

BALTIMORE—The UMBC baseball team opened its season series against Hartford with a 13-9 win on Friday at Campus Field, in a game that saw five different players homer, four of them from UMBC.  The Retrievers (13-23, 5-8 America East) have equaled their overall win total from 2007 and are just one conference win away from tying their all-time high since joining the America East for the 2004 season.

Senior Joe Fowler (Wilmington, Del./St. Mark’s) led the Retrievers, going 2-for-4 with three runs scored, four RBI, and a home run in the top of the eighth to solidify the lead for the Retrievers.  Senior Steve Russo (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) also tallied a four-bagger in the game, while junior Shawn Retz (Baltimore, Md./Western Tech/Catonsville C.C.) and freshman Rich Conlon (Vienna, Va./James Madison) tallied the first home runs of their UMBC careers.

Juniors Tom Meaney (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem) and Wink Nolan (Ellicott City, Md./Calvert Hall/Maryland) added the only extra-base hits for the Retrievers as Meaney tallied a double in the seventh and Nolan notched a triple in eighth.

Junior Dan Blewett (3-4) (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) earned the win after lasting 6.1 innings and striking out one batter while giving up eight runs on 11 hits and redshirt freshman Austin Drewyer (Ellicott City, Md./River Hill) earned the first save of his career after pitching 2.2 innings in relief and surrendering just one run on four hits, while fanning one batter.

Matt Walker led the Hawks (14-21, 6-3 America East) in the loss, going 2-for-5 with one run scored, three RBI, a double and a home run, while Weston Szymanski (2-4) was tabbed with the loss after allowing nine runs, four earned, on nine hits in 6.1 innings of work.

The Retrievers jumped onto the board first with a solo homer to right from Russo in the second, but saw themselves staring at a five-run deficit as the Hawks added six in the bottom of the fourth.

UMBC answered with a six-run inning of their own in the fifth, which was started by a Hawk fielding error which allowed Conlon to reach base.  The freshman advanced to second on Nolan’s fielder’s choice thanks to another error and junior Scott Peddicord (Columbia, Md./Long Reach) plated him with a double down the third-base line.

Fowler brought in Nolan for the score with a single before senior Will Delawter (Frederick, Md./Catoctin/Chesapeake JC) loaded the bases by walking.

Meaney’s fielder’s choice and an error by the catcher allowed Fowler to cross home plate and put Meaney and Delawter in scoring position on second and third, but Peddicord was also caught at home for the second out of the inning.

The bases would be cleared during the next at-bat as Retz tallied his first career home run for the Retrievers with a long ball over the right field fence as UMBC took a 7-6 lead.

The Retrievers added two more to that lead in the seventh off an RBI double from Meaney and sac fly from Retz before the Hawks once again came within one run after adding two of their own in the bottom of the inning.

A solo homer from Conlon and three-run shot by Fowler in the eighth sealed the victory for the Retrievers, however, as the Hawks only managed one more run in the bottom of the ninth for the final score of 13-9.

The four-game series between the teams will continue on Saturday as Hartford hosts the Retrievers for a doubleheader beginning with a 12:00 p.m. contest.