Albany, N.Y. –  UMBC baseball defeated the UAlbany Great Danes, 13-9, to complete a three-game sweep on Sunday afternoon at Varsity Field.
 
UMBC (10-9, 3-3 AE) collected 16 hits, drew eight walks, and swiped a season high four bases to win their fourth straight contest. Center fielder Justin Taylor enjoyed a big day as the senior went 3-for-3 with a walk and turned in a spectacular diving catch in the field. Taylor drove in four runs and scored three times, tying his career-high in RBI.
 
First baseman Leewood Molessa continued to rake as the freshman went 2-for-6 and drove in four runs. His bases-clearing double gave him a conference-leading 34 RBI. Graduate student left fielder Christian Easley went 3-for-5 and scored two runs while senior catcher Tony Krueger and junior shortstop Dawson Baracani both delivered a pair of hits.
 
Sophomore left-hander Jayden Shertel gave the Retrievers a solid start on the mound as he scattered six hits and three earned runs over five innings of work. Junior right-handed reliever Ben Craig was impressive as he retired all five batters faced.

UMBC outscored UAlbany by a combined 37-24 margin in the series and collected 45 hits.
 
How It Happened
-The Retrievers produced four runs on four hits in the top of the second to grab a 4-0 lead. Taylor put the visitors on the board with a 2-run single up the middle to score Baracani (singled) and Krueger (singled). Molessa followed with an RBI single up the middle to plate right fielder Ian Diaz, who had walked. Molessa eventually came around to score on a passed ball after stealing second base.
- UMBC extended their lead to 5-0 in the third on an RBI sacrifice fly by Taylor, who plated Easley (singled, stolen base).
- UAlbany scored three runs against Shertel in their half of the third inning. Owen Silliman recorded a two-run single to center and Jason Bottari added an RBI single to account for the runs.
- The hosts evened the game at 5-5 with two runs on a hit and two errors in the fourth, however, UMBC answered right back with two runs in the top of the fifth and never trailed again. Taylor collected an RBI single to left for the game-winning hit, scoring Diaz who was hit by a pitch with one-out. Third baseman Matt Ryan gave the Dawgs some breathing room with a two-out RBI single up the middle to score Taylor, who reached second on a wild pitch.
- UMBC stretched their lead to 11-5 in the top of the sixth as they produced four runs on three hits and an error. Easley opened the scoring with an RBI infield single to shortstop and Molessa drilled a two-out, 3-run double to right.
- The Great Danes got a run back in the bottom of the sixth on a wild pitch, but the Retrievers put the game away with two runs in the top of the seventh to grab a 13-6 advantage. Designated hitter Luke Trythall singled and scored on an error and Krueger went the other way for an RBI single down the left field line to score second baseman Anthony Swenda (reached on error).
- UAlbany scored two runs in the eighth and one more in the ninth but it wasn't enough.
 
Up Next
UMBC will take on Navy at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Wednesday evening at 6:00 p.m.