UMBC

Senior Andrew Germuth

AUBURNDALE, Fla.—Junior Bryan Russo (Westbury, N.Y./Clarke) hit a grand slam and senior Andrew Germuth (Severn, Md./Archbishop Spalding/Mount St. Mary's) pitched six solid innings to lead the UMBC Baseball team to its first victory of the year, defeating Long Island 10-5, Monday afternoon in Auburndale, Fla.

In the bottom of the fourth, sophomore Michael Pesci (Parsippany, N.J./DePaul Catholic) hit a double to the right center to score juniors Rich Conlon (Vienna, Va./James Madison) and Rick Phillips (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) to tie the game before sophomore Curtis Schickner (East Windsor, N.J./Lawrenceville Prep) drove in Pesci on a sac fly to center to give the Retrievers (1-6) a 3-2 lead.

Freshman Aaron Brill (Palm Beach, Fla./John I. Leonard) led of the bottom of the seventh with a triple and sophomore Casey Medairy (Elkridge, Md./Howard) and junior Marty Zawacki (Hebron, Md./James Bennett) followed with walks to load the bases. After two outs at the plate, Phillips hit a two-run single up the middle to extend the lead to 5-2.

Pesci followed with a single to left before Russo stepped up and hit his second home run of the season to right field.

Germuth (1-0) allowed two earned runs while striking out a UMBC season-high nine in six innings of work. He had four 1-2-3 innings, including two where he struck out the side. Freshman Sean Swetnam (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt/George Mason) pitched 2 and 1/3 innings, striking out five, while sophomore Luke DiBlasi (Pleasant Valley, N.Y./Arlington) pitched the final two outs.

Long Island (1-9) starter Justin Topa (1-2) struck out eight in six innings of work, allowing three runs, two earned.

The Retrievers return to action Tuesday when they face NJIT at 11 a.m.