UMBC

Freshman Rich Conlon led the Retrievers, going a combined 5-for-7 on the day.

STONY BROOK, N.Y.—The UMBC baseball team tallied 20 victories in a season for the first time in five years as the Retrievers (20-26, 12-10 America East) split a doubleheader, falling 5-1 in a nine-inning game one and claiming a 10-4 seven inning victory against Stony Brook on Saturday at University Field.

Freshman Rich Conlon (Vienna, Va./James Madison) led the Retrievers on the day, going a combined 5-for-7 with a double, one run scored, and one run batted in, while senior Will Delawter (5-3) (Frederick, Md./Catoctin/Chesapeake JC) earned game two’s win after giving up only three run, two earned, on six hits in six innings while fanning one batter.  Junior Dan Blewett (4-5) (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) suffered the loss in game one, giving up three runs on six hits and striking out five in seven innings of work.

Steven Mazzurco led the Seawolves (28-20, 12-6 America East), going a combined 3-for-6 on the day with two runs scored and two RBI, while Tom Koehler (6-3) surrendered just one run on five hits while striking out 12 batters in eight innings to earn the win in game one and Gary Novakowski (5-4) was tabbed with the loss after giving up five runs on eight hits in 4.1 innings pitched.

In a pitcher’s duel that saw a combined 17 batters strike out, the Retrievers broke a six-inning scoreless tie in the seventh that was started by junior Wink Nolan’s (Ellicott City, Md./Calvert Hall/Maryland) 22^nd double of the season, the Retrievers’ only extra-base hit.

After a one-out error which allowed senior Steve Russo (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) to reach base, Conlon singled to load the bases and a fielder’s choice by junior Brad Brainer (Chester, Md./Kent Island/Chesapeake JC) brought Nolan across the plate for the first run of the game.

The Seawolves mirrored the Retrievers in the bottom of the inning, however, scoring one run on two hits and one Retriever error and took control with a four-run eighth inning on the way to the 5-1 victory.

Game two started out much the same way, but this time the Retrievers only had to endure two scoreless innings before putting a run up on the board thanks a leadoff double from Conlon, sacrifice bunt by senior Mark Lemon (Wilmington, Del./St. Mark’s) and groundout RBI by Brainer.

And once again, Stony Brook knotted the score at one in the bottom of the inning with a solo homer from Michael Stephan.

This time it would be the Retrievers that tallied the four-run inning as RBI singles from junior Scott Peddicord (Columbia, Md./Long Reach) and Nolan and an RBI double from senior Joe Fowler (Wilmington, Del./St. Mark’s) put them up 5-1 after the top of the fifth.

The Seawolves cut that lead to two with single runs in both the bottom of the fifth and sixth, but a five-run inning by the Retrievers which saw a three-run homer by Delawter, sac fly by Conlon, and RBI single by Lemon gave the Retrievers the eventual 10-4 win.

The Retrievers will play their final games of the regular season on Sunday as they face the Seawolves in a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m.