UMBC

Malorie Weller went 5-for-6 with two doubles and three runs scored on Saturday.

SPARTANBURG, S.C.—Junior first baseman Malorie Weller (Round Hill, Va./Loudoun Valley/Kennesaw State) had five hits and senior third baseman Amanda Fefel (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville) drove in five as the UMBC softball team (2-1) picked up its first two wins of the season on the second day of the Campus Suites Spartan Classic. The Retrievers defeated Eastern Kentucky, 5-3, then blanked Liberty, 5-0. UMBC advances to Sunday’s championship game, where it will face host USC Upstate at 11 a.m. The Spartans won the first meeting, 3-1, on Friday.

“We came out swinging the bats today right from the beginning,” UMBC head coach Joe French said.

Game 1: UMBC 5, Eastern Kentucky 3

The Retrievers put up five runs on seven hits in the first two innings against the Colonels, knocking starter Mea Flores out of the game.

After the first two batters of the game reached on singles, Fefel drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and junior center fielder Julia Culotta (Street, Md./North Harford/Tennessee) followed with an RBI single.

An inning later, Fefel crushed a three-run homer over the left field fence to give the Retrievers a 5-0 lead. It was her 31st career home run, giving her sole possession of second place on UMBC’s all-time list.

Eastern Kentucky got on the scoreboard in the third with a sacrifice fly by shortstop Raquel Howes. The Colonels then scored twice in the fifth on an RBI groundout by second baseman Larkyn Wood and a single by designated player Ashley Dollins.

Fefel relieved UMBC starter Heather Brown (Pasadena, Md./Northeast) and hit the first batter she faced to load the bases but struck out catcher Cheyanne Pounds to escape the jam. She then set down the final six batters of the game in order to pick up her fifth career save, tying UMBC’s all-time record.

Brown (1-0) earned her first career win, allowing three runs on nine hits while striking out three in 4.2 innings of work. Flores (0-1) gave up five runs on six hits in 1.1 innings to suffer the loss. Stacye Toups pitched the final 5.2 frames for the Colonels, scattering five hits and two walks without allowing a run.

Fefel went 2-for-3 with four RBI to lead the Retrievers at the plate, while Culotta and junior second baseman Lauren Brummell (Hanover, Va./Hanover) also had two hits apiece. Brummell also scored twice.

Pounds and left fielder Diane Gallagher paced the Colonels with a pair of hits, while Gallagher scored two of EKU’s three runs.

Game 2: UMBC 5, Liberty 0

Junior Stephanie Weigman (Elkridge, Md./Archbishop Spalding) tossed a gem against the Flames, allowing just four hits and two walks in the complete-game shutout to earn her first win of the season, improving to 1-1.

Culotta drove in UMBC’s first two runs of the game with RBI groundouts in the first and third innings.

Brummell and Weller led off the fifth inning with back-to-back doubles to make it 3-0, and Fefel’s second sacrifice fly of the afternoon scored Weller with UMBC’s fourth run.

The Retrievers loaded the bases in the top of the seventh, and Weller scored on a two-out passed ball to give UMBC the 5-0 victory.

Liberty starter Katie Warrington (1-1) went the distance in the loss, allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits and four walks while striking out four.

Weller went 4-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI and two runs scored to pace the Retrievers at the plate. Liberty catcher Ashley Bensinger had two of the Flames’ four hits in the game.