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BALTIMORE-- UMBC baseball opened the 2021 season in style with a convincing 20-8 win against Delaware State on Saturday afternoon. The Retrievers put up 20 runs on 21 hits, including a nine run explosion in the fifth.

UMBC moves to 1-0 on the young season while the Hornets fall to 0-2.

Delaware State got out to an early lead putting up four runs in their half of the first, but the Retrievers responded back with a leadoff home run from Christian Easley (Collinsville, Va.) to make it 4-1. After the Hornets added another in the second, UMBC put up a pair thanks to an RBI single from Drew Roberts (Matthews, N.C.) and Easley to cut the deficit to 5-3. 

The Retrievers would then go on to score the next 15 runs with one in the third on an Adam Schwartz (Akron, Pa.) RBI single and nine in the fifth. Roberts once again from in a run on a single and would later score on a fielding error. Dylan Wilkinson (Fairfax, Va.) got an RBI on a hit by pitch and scored two batters later on a Christian Torres (Miami, Fla.) double. Dmitri Floyd (Dover, Del.) drove in two with Schwartz and Peter Godrick (Millersville, Md./Archbishop Spalding) adding RBI in the inning. 

Ian Diaz (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Ryan Brown (Hagerstown, Md./St. James) drove in runs in the seventh, before Matt Clarke (Wilkes Barre, Pa.) drilled a pinch hit three-run home run to left to put the Retrievers up 18-5 heading to the eighth. Delaware State would get three back in the eighth, but UMBC also added two in the inning to win 20-8 on Saturday. 

Nine different Retrievers had multiple hits with Clarke driving in three runs on one home run. Owen Hamilton (San Anselmo, Calif.) picked up the win tossing five innings and giving up two runs and four hits. 

UMBC and Delaware State conclude their series tomorrow at 1 p.m. with a double header.