Box Score HANOVER, Md. – The UMBC baseball team (4-10) clinched its first series win of the year by defeating local rival Coppin State, 12-3, on Saturday afternoon at Joe Cannon Stadium. The Retrievers won game one of the three-game series, 17-8, on Friday night.
Freshman Anthony Gatto (Hauppauge, N.Y./Smithtown West) had a career day against the Eagles, hitting his first career homerun and going 4-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored on Saturday. Gatto also doubled twice to go with a single, giving the rookie nine total bases.
Sophomores Rob McCabe (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) and D.J. Smith (Millersville, Md./Old Mill) picked up three hits each and freshman Ian Glassman (Basking Ridge, N.J./Rutgers Prep) went 2-for4 to give the Retrievers four players with multiple hits.
Right-hander Shane Vlasic (Ashburn, Va./Broad Run) threw six innings, giving up only one run, to pick up his first win of the year and even his record at 1-1. The sophomore gave up only three hits while striking out three batters.
Coppin's Madison Neddo gave up 10 runs, eight of them earned, over four innings to take the loss.
UMBC once again took an early lead against Coppin when McCabe scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Gatto.
After Coppin tied the score in the bottom half, the Retrievers quickly retook the lead, 2-1, on an RBI single to center by Glassman.
That was all the help that Vlasic needed as he did not yield another hit through his six innings of work after the first inning.
UMBC extended the lead to nine, 10-1, with eight runs over the next three innings to take a stronghold on the game, punctuated by a five-run fourth inning. Seniors Max Himmelstein (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) and Brian Klukowicz (Clifton, N.J./St. Peter's Prep), as well as Smith each picked up RBI base hits during the rally.
In the seventh inning, Gatto hit his first career homerun, a two-run shot, to push UMBC's lead to a game-high 11 runs. Coppin State plated two runs in the bottom of the eighth to close the gap to nine, 12-3, but could not get any closer as Gatto shut the door in the ninth, sending down three Eagles in order.
UMBC and Coppin State meet Sunday at 12 p.m. for the final game of the three-game series at Joe Cannon Stadium.
DAWG BITES
- UMBC has now scored in the first inning in the last three games.
- With Gatto's first homerun of the year, the Retrievers have now hit eight round trippers this year, surpassing the 2011 team's total of seven.
- Nearly 30-percent (36-of-126) of UMBC's hits this season have gone for extra bases (28-2B, 3-3B, 8-HR).
- The Retrievers have scored 27 runs in the last two games, the most of any two-game span this season.
