Princess Anne, Md.— Junior pitchers Jessica Holte (Ashland, Va./Atlee) and Kelly Lane (Albany, N.Y./Colonie Central) each pitched a shutout, while sophomore first baseman Carly Lesko (New Milford, N.J./New Milford), drove in five runs, including a two-run homer, as the UMBC Softball team swept their matchups with Lafayette and UMES. The Retrievers scored victories of 11-0 over Lafayette and 4-0 versus UMES, respectively, on Sunday at the UMBC Kickoff Tournament at UMES. Senior shortstop Bridget O'Malley (Baltimore, Md./Seton Keough) added two more hits and three RBI and finished the weekend 8-for-11 with a double, four RBI and two runs scored.

UMBC (4-9) took an early 1-0 lead when sophomore centerfielder Tori Alexander led off the bottom of the first with a triple and scored on an O'Malley single. Lafayette (4-5) would threaten in the second, putting the first two batters on base, but Holte got the next three out to avoid any damage. The Retrievers would take a 2-0 lead in the bottom half of the frame when senior Danielle O'Neill plated Chelsie Delperuto (Syracuse, N.Y./Solvay) on a squeeze bunt. The following inning, UMBC broke it open when O'Malley's RBI double scored Morgan Peyou (Mercer Island, Wash./Mercer Island) and Lesko followed with her two-run homer to give UMBC a 5-0 lead. After Holte made quick work of the Leopards in the top of the fourth, the Retrievers exploded for six runs in the bottom half on a pair of two-run singles from Lesko and Kaelin Jackson (Export, Pa./Franklin Regional). Alexander and O'Neill drove in a run each in the inning, as well. Holte (1-3) pitched a scoreless fifth to end the game via the run-rule, finishing with four strikeouts and no walks, and allowing only three hits.  

UMES (4-4) and UMBC started off scoreless when it was the Retriever defense that kick-started the offense. With a runner on first and two down in the top of the third, UMES second baseman Tesharra Hill lined a shot into the gap in left-center. Peyou dove to cut off the bouncing ball in left before it could get to the fence and, from her stomach, made a backhand toss a few feet to her right to Alexander. She threw it to Lesko in between second and the pitching rubber, who then fired to catcher Jordan Sganga (Edgewater, Md./South River). The catcher was able to hold on after a collision at the plate. Sganga would turn around and double to lead off the bottom half of the inning and her pinch runner, Nicole Shavlik (Woodinville, Wash./Woodinville) gave UMBC a 1-0 lead on an O'Malley sac fly. Lesko would follow with a sac fly of her own to double the advantage, and UMBC would eventually add two more in the sixth on a Lane RBI double and Sganga sac fly.Lane (2-2) went all seven innings, allowing five hits, with three strikeouts and two walks. 

The Retrievers return to action on Tuesday when they travel across the beltway to face cross-town rival Towson in a single game at 2 p.m.