Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Winston-Salem, N.C.—UMBC baseball opened the season with a nail-bitting 5-4 win against VMI before the Keydets took game two, 9-3. UMBC is 1-1 on the year.
GAME ONE:
The Retrievers jumped on the Keydets early, getting a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. Senior Nick Naumann (Essex, Md./John Carroll/Chestnut Hill) smacked a single up the middle to plate classmate Kevin Lachance (Clifton, Va./Centreville). Just two batters later, Hunter Dolshun (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley) hit a sacrifice fly to score Naumann.
VMI would answer with runs in the fourth and fifth to tie the game at 2-2. The Retrievers however had an answer in the bottom half of the fifth, scoring a pair off a Naumann RBI single, plating Mitchell Carroll (Oakton, Va./Oakton), before Anthony Gatto (Hauppauge, N.Y./Smithtown West) grounded out to short, allowing Kevin Lachance to score.
UMBC added the insurance run in the eighth after a bases loaded fielders' choice allowed Dolshun to cross the plate.
VMI would try to make a comeback after Tyler Tharp homered to right center, but the Retrievers held on for the 5-4 win.
Lachance went 2-2 with a pair of runs scored. Naumann went 2-3 with a pair of RBI and a run scored. Senior Conrad Wozniak (Cypress, Texas/Cypress Woods/Frank Phillip) went six innings giving up eight hits and three earned in the win.
GAME TWO:
VMI came out in the second game swinging, putting up a four spot on the Retrievers after the first inning. UMBC got one back the next half inning with a Carroll sac fly to score Dolshun.
The Keydets would score the next five runs of the game to keep the Retrievers at bay. Tim Kelly (Hampton, Va./York/Virginia Tech) would get a late inning two-run home run in the seventh, as the Retrievers fell 9-3 in game two.
Kelly led the charge on offense going 2-3 with two RBI and a run scored. Starter Matt Chanin (Olney, Md./Sherwood) went just four innings, giving up seven hits and seven earned runs in the loss.
UMBC returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 20 with a single game against host Wake Forest. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. at Couch Ballpark.
