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BASEBALL SPLITS KEY NEC DOUBLEADER WITH CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE
4/27/2003
UMBC & CENTRAL CONNECTICUT SPLIT DOUBLEHEADER BASEBALLBaltimore, MD - - -The UMBC Retrievers and Central Connecticut State Blue Devils split a Northeast Conference baseball doubleheader at UMBC Alumni Field on Sunday afternoon. UMBC (14-18, 11-6 NEC) won the first game in comeback fashion by a score of 4-3 and Central Connecticut State (20-12-2, 12-6 NEC) won the nightcap, 6-2.In the opener, The Blue Devils led the Retrievers by a score of 3-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning behind the dominant pitching of Zachery Herrick, but UMBC finally got to the senior righthander late in the contest. Retrievers? starting lefthander Joe Wilson matched zeroes with Herrick through the first three innings, until the Blue Devils broke through for a run in the fourth on an RBI groundout by sophomore first baseman Phil Rothkugel. CCSU added two more runs in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by junior catcher Tim D?Aquila and an opposite field solo-homer by Rothkugel. However, UMBC scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to even the score at 3-3. Senior third baseman Brad Glascock smacked an RBI double and freshman first baseman Issac Friedel followed with his first career home run to left field. UMBC won the game in the bottom of the seventh as sophomore rightfielder Jay Long and junior designated hitter Chris Becraft opened the inning with singles. After Herrick was removed from the game in favor of senior reliever Don Crossman, UMBC sophomore centerfielder Mike Orlando bunted the ball to Crossman, who made a wild throw attempting to force pinch-runner Jack Saffron at third base. Saffron then scored easily to give the Retrievers the victory.Wilson (4-5), won his fourth straight outing, allowed three earned runs on eight hits and struck out seven Blue Devils. Herrick dropped to 3-3 after allowing three earned runs on nine hits.Cenrtal Connecticut State bounced back with a 6-2 victory in game two as junior righthander Barry Hertzler (6-2) allowed just one earned run on three hits in seven innings of work. UMBC sophomore righthander Eric Butkiewicz allowed six earned runs on 13 hits in 5.2 innings and fell to 3-5.UMBC led 2-1 as they scored a pair of runs on a hit, a walk, and an error in the bottom of the second frame. The Blue Devils tied the game in the top of the third on an RBI single by junior rightfielder Robert Hosgood, and then got the go-ahead runs on three hits and a walk in the top of the fourth to grab a 4-2 lead. Rothkugel had an RBI single in the inning and freshman shortstop Dan Tarnowski added an RBI groundout.The Blue Devils added single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to put the game out of reach. D?Aquila and Rothkugel (2 RBIs) each had three hits for the Blue Devils. UMBC senior leftfielder Chris Yetter had two hits for UMBC.The third and final game of the series will be played on Monday at UMBC Alumni Field at 1pm.