UMBC

Amy Sadowl picked up her 39th career victory in the win over Delaware State and helped her own cause with a three-run home run.

Lauren Nicholson pitched a gem against Hampton for her UMBC record 40th career victory.

Kali Shirk stole eight bases on the weekend and is now a perfect 25-for-25 to start her career, a UMBC record.

Wilmington, N.C.-The UMBC softball team lost its first game of the day before winning the next two to win the Seahawk Classic consolation championship, going 3-3 at the season-opening tournament.

Completing a game that was started Saturday evening but suspended due to heavy rain, the Retrievers lost to Delaware State, 4-3 in eight innings, in the day’s first contest. The game was tied, 1-1, in the bottom of the third inning when the game was called, and the Hornets quickly took a 2-1 lead when the game resumed Sunday morning.

But UMBC tied it at 2-2 in the top of the fifth when sophomore Stevie Shore hit a two-out RBI double to score sophomore Dana Shepherd.

Delaware State retook the lead in the bottom of the sixth, but the Retrievers would again tie the game in the top of the seventh when junior Reilly Ward crushed a 260-foot line drive home run to straightaway center field.

With the Hornets failing to score in the bottom half of the inning, the game went into extra innings and the international tie breaker rule went into effect. In the bottom of the eighth, with a runner on second base to start the frame, freshman Krista Kearns struck out the first batter before walking the next and giving up the game-winning RBI base hit, as Delaware State won the game, 4-3.

Kearns was strong overall in her starting debut, pitching a complete game and allowing four runs, only two earned, on six hits and six walks and striking out six, but she suffered the loss.

With the loss, the Retrievers dropped to the fifth seed and entered the consolation bracket, where they faced Hampton, a team which they defeated, 12-4, on Friday.

Senior Lauren Nicholson was shaky in the first inning, allowing a hit and three walks and hitting a batter, but she got out of the inning with just one run scoring and buckled down from there.

UMBC’s bats also woke up against Hampton, as the Retrievers scored two in the second, one in the third and three in the sixth for the 6-1 victory.

The Retrievers loaded the bases in the second inning on singles by Shepherd, junior Krissy Licursi and senior Ashlea Underwood. Senior Jessica Griffith singled in the first run of the inning and Shore walked with the bases loaded to force in a run.

With two outs in the third, Licursi singled, reached second on a passed ball and scored on an RBI double by Underwood to put the Retrievers up, 3-1.

Underwood notched her third hit of the game with a single to lead off the sixth inning but was forced out at second base on a fielder’s choice by sophomore Carla O’Rourke. Sophomore Kali Shirk singled and stole second base – her sixth of the weekend – before Shore hit a three-run home run to left center to give UMBC the 6-1 lead and eventual victory.

After the shaky first inning, Nicholson settled down, only allowing one hit through the final six innings. She retired 10 in a row in the middle of the game and set down the final eight batters she faced. She pitched a complete game, allowing one run on only two hits, walking three and striking out five to pick up her second win of the season and 40th of her career.

Underwood was 3-for-3 against the Pirates, while Shore was 1-for-3 with four RBI.

The win advanced the Retrievers to the consolation championship game, a rematch against Delaware State.

Shirk led off the game with a single and stole second and third base for her seventh and eighth steals of the short season. She is 8-for-8 on the base paths in 2006 after going 17-for-17 as a freshman to make her a perfect 25-for-25 to start her career, a UMBC record for consecutive stolen bases.

After a walk and a fly out, Shirk scored on an RBI single by junior Melanie Denischuk to give the Retrievers the early 1-0 lead. But the Hornets tied the game in the bottom of the second, and the score remained knotted at 1-1 until the top of the fifth when Ward smoked her second home run of the day, a solo shot to right-center field to give UMBC the 2-1 lead.

The Retrievers added to their advantage the next inning as senior starting pitcher Amy Sadowl helped her own cause, crushing a three-run round tripper to score junior Heather Bennett and Underwood to put UMBC up, 5-1.

Sadowl took a three-hitter into the sixth inning, but started to tire, giving up three runs on three hits, including a home run, as the Hornets came back to within one run at 5-4.

But the Retrievers put the game away in the top of the seventh as Shepherd singled and Bennett doubled to put runners on second and third with one out. Griffith then singled in Shepherd before Bennett scored on a wild pitch for the 7-4 lead.

Kearns came in to close out the game with the heart of the Hornets’ order due up. She walked the first batter, who advanced around the bases on two wild pitches and a passed ball. But Kearns settled down after that, striking out the third, fourth and fifth hitters in Delaware State’s lineup on just 10 pitches to earn her first collegiate save as the Retrievers won, 7-5.

Sadowl picked up her first win of the season and the 39th of her career, moving her into sole possession of second place all-time in UMBC history, just one behind teammate Nicholson. She gave up four runs, three earned, on eight hits and one walk in six innings, striking out three.

Shepherd, Bennett and Griffith were all 2-for-4 in the game.

The Retrievers return to action Tuesday when they travel to Fairfax, Va., to take on George Mason at 2 p.m.