WASHINGTON, D.C. – UMBC sophomore left fielder Jordan Sganga (Edgewater, Md./South River) tabbed the first home run of her career in part of a 3-for-4 day from the dish, helping the Retrievers to a 10-6 victory against George Washington on Thursday afternoon at Mount Vernon Field.

Sganga finished the day with a game-best four runs batted in, while junior second baseman Katlin Olesky (Irvine, Calif./Saddleback College) added three RBI on two hits. The Retrievers win their second straight and improve to 20-9 on the season, while the Colonials fall to 11-19-1.

UMBC wasted no time loading the bases in the top of the first inning, as each of the first three Retrievers reached base safely. Starting pitcher Courtney Martin surrendered three walks in the opening frame, including a pair of walks with the bases loaded to put UMBC out in front, 2-0. Despite Martin retiring a pair of batters, the Retrievers continued to do damage, as a single from Sganga scored one run and a double from Olesky cleared the bases to extend UMBC's advantage to 6-0 after one inning of play.  

George Washington got two back in the bottom of the third, starting with a single Bradleigh Breland and an RBI-double to left center from Victoria Valos. Carlee Gray followed with an RBI-single up the middle to trim the Retrievers' advantage to four, 6-2.

The Colonials chipped in an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth inning on a groundout to third from Gray to score Breland, who reached on an UMBC fielding error. The Retrievers responded with a three-run home run to center field in the top of the sixth inning from Sganga. A walk and an error setup the round-tripper.

A double from Samantha Dos Santos and single from Megan Linn scored one for GW in the bottom of the sixth, but the Retrievers extended the lead back to six, 10-4, on a single from sophomore Danielle O'Neill (Lothian, Md./Southern) and RBI-double from sophomore Bridget O'Malley (Brooklyn, Md./Seton Keough). O'Neill finished the contest with one hit and four walks.

George Washington opened the bottom of the seventh with a pair of walks and loaded the bases on a single from Morgan Matetic. Back-to-back ground outs scored two runs for the Colonials, but a strikeout from Dos Santos ended the contest.

Freshman pitcher Jessica Holte (Ashland, Va./Atlee) picked up the win, allowing five earned runs on nine hits and striking out seven. She moves into seventh on the UMBC freshman wins list with 12 for the season, surpassing Melanie Scharf (1992). Martin tossed the complete game loss, surrendering seven earned runs on nine hits and 10 walks.

The Retrievers open America East action with a three-game series against Stony Brook, starting with a doubleheader on Sunday, March 30 at 1 p.m. at the UMBC Softball Stadium. The series finale is set for Monday, March 31 at noon.