BALTIMORE – UMBC softball's
sophomore Taylor Hall (Cosby, Va./Cosby) went 5-for-6
(.833) from the dish and tallied seven RBI in a 1-1 day for the
Retrievers at UMBC Spring Classic. The black and gold dropped a
tough extra inning matchup with La Salle, falling 5-4 in eight, but
the Retrievers' offense exploded for 10 hits and nine runs in
a 9-1 victory in five innings against Morgan
State.
MSU's Nicole Holguin walked the first two batters, each of
which would come around to score in the bottom of the first, as
Hall poked a sacrifice fly to center field and sophomore Kayla
Margentino (Unionville, Conn./Farmington) followed with a
ground out to second to score sophomore Caitlin
Chance (Easton, Md./Easton) and freshman
Bridget O'Malley (Brooklyn, Md./Seton Keough), for the
quick 2-0 UMBC lead.
Morgan State (1-16) got one back in the second, as designated
player Zina Costancia launched a home run into center field. From
there it was all Retrievers, as UMBC (6-16) scored four runs on
five hits in the bottom half of the inning. Hall picked
up three more RBI in the frame, with a single to right field. The
sophomore added a two-run double in the fourth inning, to give the
black and gold an 8-1 advantage. Back-to-back doubles from
freshmen Danielle O'Neill (Loathian, Md./Southern)
and Jordan Sganga (Edgewater, Md./South River) gave UMBC
the eight-run lead to end the game in five.
Freshman pitcher Rachel Ionata (Tampa, Fla./Palm
Harbor University) earned her first victory of her collegiate
career, allowing three hits in the contest. Holguin was credited
with the loss, surrendering four runs on two hits in one inning of
work.
In game one, La Salle took advantage of an errant UMBC throw to
first to put its lead runner on and strung together a pair of hits
to right field by Megan Hodgson and Alicia Aughton to drive in
Casey Lester and take the 1-0 lead.
Genevieve Gaynor doubled into left center in the top of the
second and Lester again reached on a UMBC error, moving Gaynor to
third. Kendra Heyer singled just out of reach of the
Retrievers' starting pitcher Heather Brown's
(Pasadena, Md./Northeast) glove to put La Salle out in front
2-0.
A long single into right center field from Tristan Musho drove
in pinch runner Allison Waddington, the only earned run surrendered
by Brown in the contest, and gave La Salle the 3-0 advantage in the
top of the sixth inning.
The Retrievers put a pair of runners on base in the bottom of
the sixth inning, cuing the departure of La Salle starter Mary Cate
Scott, but that did not stop sophomore first baseman Courtney
Reinfeld (Parkland, Fla./Stoneman Douglas) from blasting her
first double of the season to get the Retrievers on the scoreboard,
3-1. Sganga followed by picking up an RBI with a ground out to
second, to cut the deficit to one.
Freshman Jane Pardo (Odenton, Md./Arundel) led off the
bottom of the seventh with a walk and moved into scoring position
on a grounder to second. Back-to-back singles from UMBC's
captains, Chance and Hall, scored the tying run, 3-3. O'Neill
drew a two-out walk to load the bases and give the Retrievers a
chance for the walk-off victory, but Reinfeld was unable to
complete the come-from behind victory.
An error from the Retrievers' youthful infield hurt the
black and gold again in extra innings, allowing the lead-off batter
to get on base, which proved to be the winning run in the contest,
following a two-run single from
Musho.
Brown (3-4) surrendered just one earned run in eight innings of
work, Aughton (4-2) tossed 2.2 innings of relief and picked up the
victory.
The UMBC Spring Classic continues action on Saturday, March 16.
The Retrievers have a rematch with Princeton at 4:20 p.m., after
facing the Tigers Sunday at the UMBC Dawg Pound Invitational.
Saturday, March 16
@UMBC
10:15
a.m. Georgetown
vs. Siena
12:20 p.m. Hampton
vs. Georgetown
2:25
p.m. Princeton
vs. Hampton
4:20
p.m. UMBC
vs. Princeton
@Coppin State
10:45 a.m. La
Salle vs. Sacred Heart
3:15
p.m. Siena
vs. Morgan State
5:30
p.m. La
Salle vs. Morgan State
Sunday, March 17
@UMBC
10:15
a.m. Sacred
Heart vs. Morgan State
12:30 p.m. UMBC vs.
Hampton
2:45
p.m. Morgan
State vs. Georgetown
@Coppin State
10:15
a.m. Siena vs.
Georgetown
12:30 p.m. Coppin
State vs. La Salle
2:45
p.m. Coppin
State vs. Princeton
