BOSTON – UMBC sophomore pitcher Luke Johnson (Lewes, Del.) earned 2022 America East Baseball First Team honors in a vote by the league's coaches.

Johnson led a group of five Retrievers recognized by the conference. Graduate student Myles Nicholson (Hagerstown, Md.) earned Second Team and All-Academic Team honors, while senior Ian Diaz (Philadelphia, Pa.) joined him on the Second Team.

Freshman Jayden Shertel (Mays Landing, N.J.) landed on the All-Rookie Team, while senior pitcher Colton Bare (Sharpsburg, Md.) joined Nicholson on the All-Academic Team.

Heading into the America East Championships, Johnson leads America East with a 3.69 earned run average and is seventh with 67 strikeouts (in 68.1 innings pitched). He is also third in opponent batting average at .241 in 13 starts. The 67 strikeouts is currently the seventh-most in a single season in school history.

Although he was honored for his pitching, Johnson also hit .261 and drove in 18 runs as a first baseman/DH in 33 games in the lineup.

Nicholson led the conference in batting average at .387, finished second in hits (70) and fifth in stolen bases (29), despite missing the final two weeks of the season due to injury. The stolen base marks ties Anthony Gatto (2015) and Kevinv Lachance (2015) for the most in a single season in school history.

Diaz finished the season on a seven-game hitting streak and had 18 hits in his last 37 trips to the plate (.486). The slick-fielding right fielder scored eight times and drove in eight runs in his final six games.

Like Johnson, Shertel was a dual threat on the mound and in the batter's box. He took over as a weekend starter in the when America East play began and posted a 3-3 record with a sold 4.57 ERA. The lefty thrower and hitter batted .300 and drove in 15 runs in 70 plate appearances.   

Bare held opponents to a .228 batting average in 17 appearances out of the Retriever bullpen.
NOTES

• The Retrievers dropped two of three to UMass Lowell in Lowell, Mass. on April 8-10. The River Hawks won, 2-1 and 7-6 before UMBC captured the finale, 9-6. Johnson took the loss in the 2-1 decision, allowing two runs in the eighth inning after the Retrievers had taken a 1-0 lead in the top of the inning. Shertel went 4-for-5 with three runs scored in the Retrievers' 9-6 triumph.

 

• UMBC vs. the rest of the field in 2022:

 

• @ Hartford: 3-0
• vs. Maine: 0-3  
• @/vs. NJIT: 3-3
• @/vs. Binghamton: 2-4

 

• This is UMBC's first appearance in the America East Tournament since 2018.

 

• As the No. 2 seed, the Retrievers won their lone league title in 2017, defeating No. 3 Stony Brook, No. 4 UAlbany and No. 5 Maine to capture the title.

 

• This is only UMBC's sixth appearance in the championships since entering the league in 2004. They earned berths in 2008, 2015 (runner-up) 2016, 2017 (champions) and 2018. The Retrievers have a mark of 4-6 entering the 2022 championships.

 

• No current Retrievers have competed in the America East Baseball Championships.

 

• The Retrievers (22-30) dropped the final series of the season, losing the final two games after an opening night 14-11 win versus Binghamton.

 
League Rankings

Category	Mark	Rank (of 8)
Batting Average	.280	3 (1. UAlbany .290)
Runs per Game	6.8	4 (1. UAlbany, 7.3)
Home Runs	31	8 (1. Hartford, 59)
OBP	.394	1
Stolen Bases	94	2 (1. UML, 131)
ERA	6.13	4 (1. UML, 5.59)
Opponent BA	.294	7 (1. UAlbany, .273)
Fielding Pct.	.961	7 (1. UAlbany, .975)