America East Baseball News & Notes: UMBC Off to a Solid Start

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The first weekend of America East Conference baseball took place last weekend. The weather did factor into how these series were played. The good news is, games took place. For UMBC, the start of league play was indeed good news as they were able to sweep their home series vs Binghamton and extended their winning streak to seven games.

Another team playing well is Bryant. They took two of three from Maine and have won seven of eight games. NJIT was in non-league mode and also won a series vs Fairfield. All in all, it was a good weekend for the league. Here is how it went.

UMBC (10-11, 3-0) began their league campaign vs Binghamton with a double-header on Friday. Game one was about starting pitching as both teams trotted out their best. Luke Johnson (1-3) once again demonstrated why he may be the best starting pitcher in the league. His complete game performance of two hits and no runs in seven innings gave his team a much-needed boost. Not to be outdone, Binghamton’s Gabe Driscoll went pitch for pitch with Johnson. Driscoll also went the route going six giving up two earned runs on five hits. Driscoll’s only mistakes came in the very first inning. He gave up run-scoring hits to Anthony Swenda (a double), and an RBI single to Matt Ryan. Johnson took care of the rest for a 2-0 win.

Game two was completely different as both teams came out swinging. The result was an 11-9 win for the Retrievers. A four-run fourth followed by a five-run seventh did the trick for the home team. On Sunday, more offense from the two teams as UMBC made it a clean sweep with an 11-8 win. UMBC played long ball as Ryan went deep for a 2-run HR in the first. Then, Justin Taylor hit a solo HR in the third.

The Bearcats used four doubles as their extra-base hits with Evan Sullivan enjoying a three-hit day. Logan Wiley (3-10) came out of the pen to throw 4.1 IP of five-hit three-run baseball to get the win. UMBC made it eight in a row with a 21-8 win over Coppin State on Tuesday. Swenda and Ryan led the way with three RBI days. UMBC meets Bryant this weekend.

The Bryant Bulldogs (12-10, 2-1) used their last at-bats to win their series vs the Maine Blacks. Both games of the Friday twinbill were won in that fashion. Up 3-0 in the seventh, the Black Bears put up a four-spot in the top of that inning. The big blow was a 2-run HR to right center field by Jeremiah Jenkins, his eighth of the year. Maine was now up one at 4-3. In the bottom of the seventh, Bryant used a sac-bunt with two-out in the seventh to tie the game at 4-4. Then in the bottom of the eighth, Carmen Pedosa doubled to right center off Marshall Smaracko (0-2) to drive home the winning run, 5-4 Bryant. It would make a winner of Sean Zaslaw (1-0).

Game two was a carbon copy of game one. Only this time it would take 10 innings. The Bulldogs down late again tied the game in the eighth on a throwing error by Black Bears pitcher Gabe Gifford (0-2). They would win it in the tenth on an RBI single by Gavin Noriega through a drawn-in infield. 5-4 Bulldogs. Noriega had a two-hit game. Toby Scheidt (1-0) got the win with an inning of shutout ball. Maine took the final game of the weekend 1-0. The only run came in the seventh on a base hit by catcher Dean O/Neill to score Zack Martin with the game’s only run. Luc Lavigueur (1-2) got the win with seven innings of four-hit shutout pitching. Colton Carson went two to get his first save. Tyler Horvat (1-2) was the tough luck loser as he went nine and gave up six hits and a run. On Tuesday, Bryant used four HRs to defeat Merrimack by a 6-5 score. Brandy Durand hit a 3-run HR in the eighth off Warriors pitcher Damon Fuller to get the win.

NJIT (8-15, 1-2) took two of three from Fairfield over the weekend. The teams split a DH on Friday, with the Highlanders winning game one and the Stags winning game two. The rubber game took place on Sunday with NJIT winning 8-5 scoring runs in the first three innings. Catcher Cade Ladehoff had a big day going 2-for-4, RS, 4 RBI including a HR in the first inning. Drew Stanton (1-0), out of the Highlanders pen, got the win with 2.2 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER. On Tuesday, NJIT made the trip to Rutgers and was beaten 8-3. The Scarlet Knights stole five bases and received four innings of two-hit shutout pitching from their bullpen to get the win. Seven pitchers toed the rubber for NJIT with Talon Mihalinac (0-2) taking the loss going two innings, giving up five hits, and two earned runs.

After splitting a DH with UAlbany last Friday, the UMass Lowell River Hawks (8-13, 1-1) began a four-game road trip with a come-from-behind 10-6 win over Fairfield on Tuesday. Down 6-3 in the seventh, the River Hawks would score seven runs combined in the seventh and eighth innings. The bullpen of Jacobe Jette, Zack Fortuna, and Brian Foley would combine to go four innings of one-hit baseball. Fortuna picked up the win (1-0). Offensive starts were Scott Donahue (4-for-5, RS, 3 RBI) and Carlos Martinez (3-for-5, 3 RS, 3 RBI). The River Hawks will be at NJIT this weekend.

The AE Player of the Week is also the AE Rookie of the Week, Danny Whatt of UMBC. He batted .545 and slugged 1.091 in a 5-0 week for UMBC. He had 12 hits, 12 RBI, 11 runs scored, and six doubles. He went 9-for-14 in the three-game sweep of the Bearcats. This is his first career weekly award.

The AE Pitcher of the Week is Luke Johnson of UMBC. In his complete game over Binghamton. Johnson allowed two hits and one walk. He had nine strikeouts and retired the last 14 batters he faced. This is Johnson’s first award of the season.

We hope everyone has a Happy Easter. We’ll be back next week with more from America East Baseball.