VESTAL, N.Y. - UMBC battled back after a seven-run first inning for Maine, but ultimately fell to the Black Bears 11-6 in the America East Playoffs, eliminating the Retrievers.
Maine jumped out to a 7-0 lead after the first inning, pushing UMBC starter
Sergio Droz from the contest. The Retrievers bounced back in the bottom half of the frame, scoring three runs off of Maine starter Gianna Gambardella.
Dylan Melton led the inning off with a double to right-center, followed by a base knock from
Anthony Mascuilli.
Danny Orr found the gap in right field as well, scoring the pair with a double of his own. Orr advanced to third on an
Ehi Okojie ground out before scoring on a
Danny Wyatt RBI ground out.
Brady Fox tossed a scoreless second inning, allowing the Retrievers to pull even closer.
Kyle Eddington was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning before scoring on a
Jesiah Carpenter single with one away. Melton picked up another hit, lacing a single to center, scoring Carpenter to make it 7-5.
The Black Bears bumped the lead to 10-5 in the fourth, getting a two-run double from Shane Andrus, and added one more in the eighth as Troy Carpenter blasted a homer to left.
The Retrievers finally got to Maine reliever Pierce Friedman in the bottom of the eighth as
Derek Paris ripped his second homer of the season to cut the deficit to 11-6. Friedman finished off the inning and gave way to Tommy Martin, who closed the game out in the ninth.
Droz took the loss for UMBC, while Friedman earned the victory with 6.2 innings of relief work.
Bennett Speicher tossed 1.2 scoreless innings for the Retrievers, while
Brady LeJeune-DeAcutis allowed one run in 2.1 innings.
Melton finished the day with three hits, going 11-14 with a walk for the tournament. Eddington had the other multi-hit day for UMBC. Melton finished the season with 75 hits, tying for eighth all-time in UMBC single-season history. Mascuilli drew his 45th walk of the season in the contest, pushing him into a tie for fourth in single-season history.
UMBC finishes the season 29-24. Maine will go on to the championship to take on Binghamton.
