UMBC

Amanda Fefel went 4-for-6 with three RBI in two games.

BALTIMORE—The UMBC softball team (9-8) won a pair of games on the first day of the UMBC Retriever Classic Saturday afternoon at UMBC Softball Stadium, defeating Hampton, 9-1, in six innings, and Marist, 5-2.

Game 1: UMBC 9, Hampton 1 (6 innings)

The Pirates scored an unearned run in the top of the first, but the Retrievers tallied twice in the bottom of the inning to take the lead and never looked back. Center fielder Julia Culotta’s (Street, Md./North Harford/Tennessee) RBI single drove in first baseman Malorie Weller (Round Hill, Va./Loudoun Valley/Kennesaw State), who led off the inning with a double. Second baseman Lauren Brummell (Hanover, Va./Hanover) then scored on a double steal.

Weller drove in UMBC’s third run of the game with a two-out triple in the second, and Culotta had another RBI single in the third to make it 4-1. A two-out rally in the fourth led to two more runs for the Retrievers, as Brummell tripled home Weller and pitcher Amanda Fefel (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville) plated Brummell with a single.

After going down in order in the fifth, the first inning in which they didn’t score, the Retrievers scored three in the sixth for the 9-1 victory. After an RBI groundout by Brummell, Fefel doubled in Weller. Two batters later, right fielder Krista Kearns (Santa Fe Springs, Calif./Santa Fe) smoked a ball down the left field line for the game-winning single.

Fefel (3-1) picked up the victory, allowing just one unearned run on two hits and striking out eight. Amanda Black suffered the loss for Hampton after surrendering six runs on nine hits in four innings. Ashley Weissenbach finished the game for the Pirates and allowed three unearned runs on four hits.

The top of the lineup was lethal for the Retrievers, as the top four hitters – Weller, Brummell, Fefel and Culotta – combined to go 11-for-16 with seven RBI, three doubles, two triples and six runs scored. Weller finished a home run shy of the cycle.

Game 2: UMBC 5, Marist 2

The Red Foxes scored an unearned run in the top of the first, but UMBC tied the game in the second on an RBI single by catcher Amanda Page (Batavia, N.Y./Batavia/Monroe CC), then scored three in the third to take a 4-1 lead.

A sacrifice fly by Marist catcher Megan Lamoureux made it 4-2 in the top of the fifth, but Fefel responded in the bottom of the inning with her third home run of the season, and UMBC starter Stephanie Weigman (Elkridge, Md./Archbishop Spalding) retired the final six Red Fox batters in order for the 5-2 victory.

Weigman (5-6) allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits and struck out seven in the victory. Caitlin Schell suffered the loss after giving up five runs (two earned) on four hits and striking out five.

Weller picked up two of UMBC’s four hits in the game. Marist shortstop Melissa Giordano was the only Red Fox with multiple hits, as she went 2-for-2 with two runs scored.

The same three teams play again on Sunday on the second day of the UMBC Retriever Classic. Marist and Hampton will kick the action off at 10:30 a.m. UMBC will then play Marist at 12:30 p.m. and Hampton at 2:30 p.m.