11 First Inning Runs And A Triple Play Lead Baseball To A 13-7 Win Over Mount St. Mary’s

It was been a season of highs and lows for the UMBC baseball team this year as they are in a rebuilding mode yet ready to move up the standings, and have shown both sides. On some days the pitching is dominate but the bats just cannot produce, while other times, like against Mount St. Mary’s, the hits keep coming and allow the team to just out slug the opponent, 13-7.

With a key series against University at Albany that may determine whether or not the Retrievers will make it into the four team post season tournament coming this weekend the Retrievers got some work in against Mount St. Mary’s. In the game the bats were on fire as the team scored 11 runs in the first inning, helped by a 2 RBI double by Brian Klukowicz, a 2 RBI triple by Max Himmelstein, and a 2 run home run by Rick Phillips as the team cycled through the lineup right away, going through two pitchers.

Five Retrievers had multi-hit games, led by Himmelstein, who went 3-for-5 with a run and four RBIs from the fifth spot in the lineup.

While the team proved they can hit, and proved they can play defense, shown by a a triple play in the third inning which shortstop Rich Conlon caught a line drive, stepped on second base, and fired away to first.

But the pitching may still be a slight issue as J.R. Seader gave up three runs off five hits in 2 innings while in relief Sean Swetnam gave up three runs off four hits in 2.2 innings. Samuel Bashioum had the most success giving up just one hit off three hits in 4.1 innings.