UMBC

Freshman Rich Conlon put the Retrievers on the board with a two-RBI double in the top of the seventh.

FARMINGDALE, N.Y.--The UMBC baseball team rallied from a 3-0 deficit against Stony Brook and knotted the score with two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth, but the Seawolves (32-24) notched the game winning run in the bottom of the ninth with a double to deep center by Justin Echevarria to down the Retrievers (21-28), 4-3, on Thursday night at Farmingdale Field in the first round of the America East Conferece Championships.

Freshman Rich Conlon (Vienna, Va./James Madison) led the Retrievers on the night, going 2-for-4 with two RBI and the double that put the Retrievers on the board. Redshirt freshman Austin Drewyer (2-4) (Ellicott City, Md./River Hill) was tabbed with the loss after pitching two innings in relief and giving up just one run, the game-winner, on two hits while fanning two batters.

Echevarria led the Seawolves with the game-winning double and was 2-for-4 on the night with one RBI and a double, while Jeremy Nowak (7-2) earned the win after pitching one scoreless inning in relief, while allowing just one run and striking out three batters.

The Seawolves broke a one-inning scoreless tie in the bottom of the second with an RBI single through the right side that scored Steve Mazzurco, who started things off for Stony Brook with a one-out double down the right field line and made that a two-run advantage after a leadoff solo homer to right from Michael Stephan.

Marino batted in another run for the Seawolves with an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth down the left field line to score Chad Marshall to take a 3-0 lead over the Retrievers, but the Retrievers bats came alive in the top of the seventh to get onto the board.

Freshman Rich Conlon (Vienna, Va./James Madison) cut the Stony Brook lead to one run with a two-out, two-RBI single to right center in the top of the seventh, which plated juniors Shawn Retz (Baltimore, Md./Western Tech/Catonsville C.C.) and Wink Nolan (Ellicott City, Md./Calvert Hall/Maryland).

The Retrievers knotted the score at three with an RBI single up the middle from Nolan that scored freshman Casey Medairy (Elkridge, Md./Howard), who entered the game as a pinch runner for senior Will Delawter (Frederick, Md./Catoctin/Chesapeake JC), who along with Retz, reached base on consecutive walks by Stony Brook reliever Jordan Purington.

And finally, Echevarria, tallied the one-out RBI double in the bottom of the ninth to propel the Seawolves to the 4-3 win.

The Seawolves have earned a spot in the winner's bracket of the America East Championship and will play Binghamton, who defeated Vermont, 4-1, earlier in the day at 7:05 p.m. on Friday.

The Retrievers will face the Catamounts at 3:05 p.m. at Farmingdale Field, with the loser of the contest facing elimination.