UMBC

Amanda Fefel has 36 career home runs, four shy of the school record.

PHILADELPHIA—Senior third baseman Amanda Fefel (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville) tied UMBC’s single-game record with three home runs, including one during the Retrievers’ seven-run seventh inning as the UMBC softball team (15-7) defeated host Temple (8-15) by a score of 10-7 Wednesday afternoon at Ambler Field. Earlier in the day, the Owls defeated the Retrievers, 2-1, in the first game of the doubleheader.

Game 1: Temple 2, UMBC 1

The Retrievers took an early 1-0 lead on back-to-back two-out doubles by sophomore left fielder Kaela Mason (Bel Air, Md./Harford Tech) and senior right fielder Emily Thompson (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Falls).

But the Owls scored twice in the third on doubles by second baseman Michelle Lerner and shortstop Christina Sykora and an RBI single by left fielder Samantha Schoell to take a 2-1 lead.

The teams combined for just four more hits over the final four innings, and the 2-1 score held up.

UMBC junior hurler Stephanie Weigman (Elkridge, Md./Archbishop Spalding) suffered the tough luck loss despite allowing just two runs on six hits and striking out nine in the complete game effort. Kristen Marris gave up one run on six hits and struck out six to earn the victory for Temple.

Game 2: UMBC 10, Temple 7

For the fourth time in as many victories, UMBC rallied to win when trailing in the sixth inning or later.

This time, the Retrievers found themselves down, 6-3, in the seventh, when Fefel hit her third home run of the game, a two-run shot to pull them to within one. UMBC then loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a hit batter before junior designated player Lauren O’Malley (Pasadena, Md./Archbishop Spalding) knotted it up with an RBI single before junior center fielder Julia Culotta (Street, Md./North Harford/Tennessee) smashed a grand slam of the left-center field fence to give the Retrievers a 10-6 lead. It was the second time in four days that UMBC has scored seven runs in an inning, as the Retrievers also crossed the plate seven times in an 8-5 comeback win over Mount St. Mary’s on Sunday.

Temple got an unearned run in the bottom of the inning to make it 10-7, but was unable to get any closer.

Fefel’s first home run of the game gave the Retrievers a 1-0 lead in the first, but the Owls scored three times in the bottom of the inning. Fefel’s second homer made it 3-2 in the third, and UMBC tied it up in the sixth when Thompson laced a home run of her own down the left field line.

But back-to-back doubles by center fielder Ali Robinson and designated player Danielle Fagan and an RBI single by third baseman Rachel Knable temporarily gave Temple a 6-3 lead in the bottom of the inning.

UMBC freshman starter Heather Brown (Pasadena, Md./Northeast) allowed six runs (five earned) on six hits in six innings to earn the victory; Weigman surrendered one unearned run in an inning of relief. Crystal Nyman gave up six runs on nine hits in 6.2 innings of work and suffered the loss, while Lauren Spoo allowed four runs on four hits while getting just one out in relief.

Fefel’s three home runs in the contest equal UMBC’s single-game record, set by Deanna Vecchio in 2002 and matched by Kristie Pickeral in 2004. She now has 36 in her career, just four shy of Pickeral’s school mark.

The Retrievers return to action this weekend, when they open America East play with a three-game series against Stony Brook.