UMBC

TEANECK, NJ - Third baseman Joe Munda (Glen Head, NY) hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth and first baseman Pat Geroni (Pt. Pleasant, NJ) belted two round-trippers to power the Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team to a 6-5 extra inning win over UMBC in the opening game of a Northeast Conference (NEC) doubleheader vs. UMBC. The Retrievers came back to win game two by a score of 10-1, collecting 13 hits. The Knights close out the 2003 season at 14-25 overall and 12-15 in NEC play. UMBC, still battling for a playoff spot, is now 18-25 overall and 14-12 in the league.

UMBC jumped out to a 4-0 lead after three innings in the opener. The Retrievers got one in the second on an RBI single by Brad Glascock (Bel Air, MD). Glascock drove in two more in the third with another single and Kevin Brooks (Gambrills, MD) plated the fourth run with a base hit to center field.

The Knights got two back in the bottom of the third as Tom McLaughlin (Glendora, NJ) singled with one out and Geroni followed with his first home run of the day over the center field fence.

The Knights cut the deficit to 4-3 in the sixth. Geroni led off with a double and advanced to third on an infield out. Two batters later Nick Trincellita (Hoboken, NJ) singled to left, driving in Geroni.

Mike Orlando (Rochester, NY) led off the seventh with a double for UMBC and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Knights' starter Gregg Pleeter (Spring Valley, NY) then walked Dan Carpenter (Glen Burnie, MD) and Orlando scored on a balk by Pleeter to give the Retrievers a 5-3 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, Matt Nugent (Staten Island, NY) drew a one-out walk. Retrievers' starter Eric Butkiewicz (Plainville, CT) struck out the next batter, but Geroni blasted his second homer of the day, a two-run shot to tie the game at 5-5 and send it into extra innings.

Pleeter set the Retrievers down in order in the eighth and worked out of a jam in the ninth, setting the stage for Munda. Butkiewicz got the lead-off hitter, but Munda stung the first pitch he saw over the left center field wall to give the Knights the 6-5 win.

Pleeter went the distance, scattering eight hits and striking out 11 to improve to 5-6 on the year. Geroni finished 3-for-3 with four runs batted in and Trincellita went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Butkiewicz struck out 10 batters and walked one in 8.1 innings for UMBC, while Glascock went 2-for-4 with three runs driven in.

UMBC came out with four runs in the top of the first in game two. They got the first on a bases loaded walk and two more on a double by Carpenter. A ground out by Kyle Wildasin (Hanover, PA) plated another to give the Retrievers a 4-0 lead. They added two more in the second on a sacrifice fly by Scott Kosmicky (Baltimore, MD) and a RBI single from Chris Yetter (Columbia, MD).

After two scoreless innings, UMBC posted three more runs in the fifth to stretch the lead to 9-0. Joe Muscillo (Long Branch, NJ) led off with a solo home run and Glascock knocked in two with a single. Kosmicky drove in one more in the seventh. The Knights got their run in the eighth on an RBI double off the bat of Lenny Armenti (Bloomfield, NJ.

Orlando went 3-for-6 in game two with three runs scored and Glascock was 2-for-4 with three runs batted in for UMBC. Tom Ballenger (Cheverly, MD) went the first eight innings, fanning 10 and scattered eight hits.