TOWSON, Md.—The UMBC baseball team scored four runs in the first, but was unable to hold on, falling to local rival, Towson, 10-9, Wednesday afternoon. With the loss, the Retrievers fall to 3-14, while the Tigers improve to 8-16-1.
UMBC jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first, highlighted by a double by senior Rick Phillips (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) that scored juniors Max Himmelstein(Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) and Curtis Schickner (East Windsor, N.J./Lawrenceville Prep).
Down 8-6 in the ninth, junior Michael Pesci (Parsippany, N.J./DePaul Catholic) doubled to lead off the inning and came around to score on a fielding error that allowed senior Rich Conlon (Vienna Va./James Madison) to reach. After a single by Himmelstein, junior Brian Klukowicz (Clifton, N.J./St. Peter's Prep) doubled to score Conlon. After Phillips was intentionally walked, freshman Bryan Perlmutter (Hillsdale, N.J./Pascack Valley) walked to score Himmelstein.
The Tigers struck for two in the bottom of the ninth, including a walk-off single by Austin Harclerode with one out.
Junior Sean Swetnam (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt/George Mason) went 6.1 innings in his first start of the season. Fellow junior Luke DiBlasi (Pleasant Valley, N.Y./Arlington) took the loss, falling to 1-1 on the year.
Towson reliever Kyle Paul (1-0) induced all three outs in the ninth to earn the win.
The Retrievers return home this weekend to face off against Longwood with a doubleheader on Saturday at noon.
