Box Score West Hartford, Conn.—UMBC baseball had to fend off a furious rally from Hartford late, but held on for a 13-12 victory on Saturday. Jamie Switalski (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) and Zack Bright (Fairfax Station, Va./WT Woodson) each drove in three runs, each on a three run home run.
The Retrievers improve to 11-16, 5-4 AE while Hartford drops to 11-18, 3-6 AE on the year.
A quartet of Retrievers had double digit hits, including Switalski, AJ Wright (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West), Mitchell Carroll (Oakton, Va./Oakton) and Owen Schneider (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge) who tallied three big RBI off the bench.
There were a combined 32 hits between the two with Hartford collecting 20 hits on Saturday.
UMBC opened the scoring with a solo home run in the first from Hunter Dolshun (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley) to give UMBC a 1-0 lead. The Hawks would answer with a run of their own in the first to tie it after one complete.
The Retrievers would then explode for a ten runs in the third to take control of the game. Wright would double home Carroll to give UMBC the lead, followed by a Dolshun RBI single. That set up Switalski who blasted a three-run home run to push the advantage to 8-1.
The lead would increase to 11-1 after another home run of the three-run variety, this time by Zack Bright, the first of his career. Schneider would add to the lead in the fifth with an RBI single, and make give UMBC their 13th run of the day in the seventh on a double.
Hartford would score two in the fifth and sixth to cut into the deficit, and get it all the way to 13-12 with a ninth inning home run. However Cory Callahan (Sykesville, Md./Good Counsel) would end the game with a strikeout to give UMBC a 13-12 victory.
Starter Mitchell Wilson (Hagerstown, Md./St. James) picked up his third win of the year going five innings, giving up eight hits and three runs.
UMBC will have the week off before hosting UMass Lowell in a three game set at Alumni Field. The Retrievers and River Hawks will play two on Saturday, April 22 and a single game on Sunday, April 23.
