BALTIMORE - The UMBC baseball team battled back from down 6-1 after the fourth inning, but George Washington held on won 9-5 Thursday evening at the Baseball Factory Field at UMBC. With the loss, the Retrievers fell to 7-22, while the Colonials improved to 20-17.  

In the bottom of the fifth, sophomore Michael Pesci (Parsippany, N.J./DePaul Catholic) and junior Bryan Russo (Westbury, N.Y./Clarke) hit back-to-back home runs to bring the Retrievers within two, 6-4. Pesci's was a two-run shot to left-center field, while Russo's was a solo bomb to left.

In the seventh, sophomore Max Himmelstein (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) hit a ball off the left-center fence to score fellow sophomore Brian Klukowicz (Clifton, N.J./St. Peter's Prep) to cut the lead to one.

The Retrievers used a different pitcher in each of the nine innings. Pesci (1-2) allowed five runs in the first, but the next seven pitchers allowed just four hits. The Colonials added three in the top of the ninth.

GW starter Brian Derner (2-1) allowed four runs in five innings, striking out six. Justin Albright got the final three outs for his first save.

The Retrievers return to action this Saturday and Sunday for a three-game series at Binghamton.