The Retrievers baseball season returned to action after their second place America East finish in 2015. The Retrievers faced off against a group of opponents over the opening weekend, and started the season off on a high note by beating the Virginia Military Institute, but ended on a low after losing their next three games.
The weekend series began to look good as the Retrievers entered game one of a double header against VMI on Friday. The Retrievers took an early lead against VMI in game one with a pair of runs scored in the bottom of the first, one of which came from junior Hunter Dolshun sacrificing himself so senior Nick Naumann could score.
VMI eventually caught up to the Retrievers and briefly stole the lead in the top of the fifth, but the Retrievers quickly reclaimed it in the bottom of the inning thanks to a pair of runs batted in by Naumann and senior Anthony Gatto.
VMI came close to coming back in the ninth inning after hitting a home run, but the Retrievers prevailed and started their season with a 5–4 win.
However, later that day, VMI had their revenge against UMBC in a blowout victory, beating UMBC 9–3. VMI scored four runs in the first inning to start game two, which was all they ended up needing in the seven inning game.
The Retrievers next faced the University of Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Saturday, which proved to be another difficult game. Despite the Retrievers taking an early 4–1 lead in the first inning, thanks to a home run from senior Kevin Lachance and a two run single from junior Andrew Casali, Wake Forest struck back by scoring five runs of their own in the second inning, making it a 4–6 deficit for the Retrievers.
UMBC managed to tie the game at seven in the top of the seventh inning, but a double home run from Wake Forest sealed the win for the Demon Deacons. Wake Forest beat UMBC 10–8, giving UMBC a 1–2 record and a chance of reaching .500 on Sunday.
However, Sunday’s matchup against Georgetown University proved to be another near victory for the Retrievers after failing to secure a win after taking a 5–0 lead. A Retrievers error in the ninth inning allowed Georgetown to send the game into extra innings and then score the winning single in a 6–5 win for Georgetown.
Although the Retrievers ended the weekend with a 1–3 record, there were several highlights for them. Lachance went 7–16 at back over the weekend’s four games, batting in two runs and scoring himself five times, including a home run against Wake Forest.
The Retrievers will next head off to Georgia Institute of Technology for a four game weekend series starting Friday, Feb. 26.
