BALTIMORE—The UMBC baseball team split a doubleheader on the final day of the 2011 season with Hartford, defeating the Hawks 10-3 before falling 11-9, at Baseball Factory Field Saturday. The Retrievers end the season 10-37 (2-20 America East), while the Hawks finish 6-43-1 (3-20 AE).
In the bottom of the first of the opening game, freshman Rob McCabe (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Joseph's) led off with a walk before moving to second on a single by senior Rich Conlon (Vienna, Va./James Madison). Redshirt freshman D.J. Ream (Columbia, Pa./Hempfield) followed with a double down the left field line to give the Retrievers a 2-0 lead. Junior Max Himmelstein (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) then scored Ream on a single through the left side.
UMBC struck again in the third when Ream singled and moved to third on a double by Himmelstein. Senior Rick Phillips (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) singled through the third baseman and shortstop to score Ream and Himmelstein.
Senior Casey Medairy (Elkridge, Md./Howard) came up with two outs and singled to score junior Brian Klukowicz (Clifton, N.J./St. Peter's Prep) and after a walk by McCabe, Conlon induced a bases-loaded walk to extend the lead to 7-1.
Ream singled in the fifth to score freshman Bryan Perlmutter (Hillsdale, N.J./Pascack Valley) and Himmelstein hit a double off the wall with the bases loaded that scored Medairy and Conlon.
Senior starter Austin Drewyer (Ellicott City, Md./River Hill) pitched a complete game in his final appearance for UMBC, allowing three runs. He walked one, and finished the season with six walks in 87.2 innings of work.
Hartford starter Kevin Veilleux (1-5) took the loss, allowing seven runs in three innings of work.
In the second game, the Hawks struck for four in the first, but Phillips walked with the bases loaded to score McCabe and senior Bryan Russo (Westbury, N.Y./Clarke) was hit by a pitch that scored Conlon in the bottom of the inning. In the third, Ream flied to right that Medairy came home on to cut the lead to 4-3.
In the fourth, Ream drove in two more runs when he doubled to the left field fence, driving in Perlmutter and Conlon. Himmelstein stepped up and singled up the middle to score Ream and give the Retrievers a 6-5 lead.
Down a run in the seventh, Medairy singled home freshman pinch runner D.J. Smith (Millersville, Md./Old Mill) to tie the game at seven.
Hartford scored two in the top of the ninth on a single by Jason Freethey.
Junior starter Luke DiBlasi (Pleasant Valley, N.Y./Arlington) pitched 4.2 innings, allowing seven runs with three strikeouts. Senior Sean Swetnam (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt/George Mason) allowed two runs in 3.1, while junior Josh Dick (Winchester, Va./James Wood) took the loss to fall to 1-1.
Ream finished the four-game series with five doubles and eight runs driven in.
