BALTIMORE – Freshman starter Eddie Sargent pitched six solid innings but the UMBC baseball team fell to the Delaware Blue Hens in ten innings, 9-8, on Tuesday evening at Alumni Field.
 
Sargent hurled a season-high six innings and allowed just two runs on two hits while fanning four batters. The left-hander, who left the game with an 8-2 lead, walked three batters and tossed 91 pitches.
 
Graduate student center fielder Christian Easley went 3-for-6 with an RBI while senior designated hitter Tony Krueger was 2-for-6 with a team-high three RBI. Senior left fielder Michael Cilio added two RBI and walked three times while graduate student right fielder Ian Diaz drew a game-high four walks. Junior second baseman Anthony Swenda (double) and classmate shortstop Dawson Baracani each contribute a pair of hits.
 
UMBC (27-24) scored twice in the fourth inning to strike first as freshman catcher Derek Paris and Easley contributed RBI singles.
 
Cilio then singled up the middle in the fifth inning to score Diaz, who led-off the frame with a walk.
 
Delaware (27-26) finally got to Sargent in the sixth inning as third baseman Joey Loynd (3-for-4) hit a two-run homer to trim the deficit to 3-2.
 
The Retrievers scored three times in the bottom of the sixth to expand the lead to 6-2. Krueger smoked an RBI double down the left field line and sophomore third baseman Matt Ryan and Cilio drew RBI walks.
 
Krueger added a two-run double down the left field line in the bottom of the seventh to give the hosts an 8-2 advantage.
 
The Blue Hens evened the contest with six runs on just two base hits in the top of the eighth inning off relievers Ben Craig and Matt Clarke. UMBC walked five batters in the frame and allowed a pair of two-out 2 RBI hits.
 
UMBC had a chance to go ahead in the bottom of the eighth but Paris was thrown out a home to end the frame after Baracani laced a sharp single to right field.
 
First baseman Owen Petrich (3 RBI) hit a two-out RBI single through the middle to score designated hitter Eric Ludman with the game-winning run in the top of the tenth inning.
 
Senior Connor Kelly (2-2) took the loss as he pitched the final 2.1 innings.

The Retrievers will host VMI on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.