Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - After opening conference play with two losses on Saturday, the Hartford baseball team got its first victory when it took Game One of a doubleheader with UMBC on Sunday, 10-2. The Hawks benefited from three RBIs from Mike Amendola and two from Mike Aldrich. Amendola and Andy Drexel hit back-to-back home runs to cap the scoring in the bottom of the sixth inning. In Game Two, UMBC scored four in the fifth inning to go on to a 5-4 decision.

Mike Thatcher pitched a complete game in Game One to earn the victory. Anthony Mannuccia started and took the loss in Game Two.

Hartford (6-17, 1-3) got on the board early in Game One. With the bases loaded and one out, Aldrich stepped up and laced a single up the middle, scoring Victor Santana and Amendola.

The Hawks would add two more in the second inning, one coming thanks to their aggressive play which forced UMBC into a mistake. Matt Walker lined a single to right to open the frame, and Jon Ricco reached on an error as he tried to lay down a sacrifice bunt. His well-placed bunt was fielded by pitcher Kevin Clark, who threw the ball away trying to catch Ricco at first.

After Jason Freethey successfully put down a sac bunt, Andrew Siano knocked a slow roller to short. Rich Conlon tried to catch Walker at the plate, but it was not in time. Everyone was safe, leaving Siano and Ricco on the corners.

With such speed on base, head coach Jeff Calcaterra called for a double steal. Siano broke for second, and as Retriever catcher Rick Phillips faked the throw towards second, Ricco broke for home. Phillips then turned and threw towards third, but the throw sailed over the infield and allowed Ricco to regroup and trot home.

The Hawks would add a run in the fifth inning thanks to Drexel's double and Rodger Wilmot's sacrifice fly. In the sixth, they broke the score wide open with five runs. Victor Santana drove in the first with a line drive single to center, and Amendola followed with a drive up and over the netting in left field, a long three-run homer to give Hartford a 9-0 lead. Immediately following that, Andy Drexel sent a shot over the net in right field, giving Hartford an even 10.

The Retrievers touched Thatcher for two runs in the seventh to end the shutout bid, but it was far too little too late for UMBC in the first game.

After spotting UMBC a 1-0 lead in Game Two, Hartford responded with a big first inning that knocked Retriever starter JR Seader from the game before an inning had gone by.

Siano singled to lead off the inning, and Santana roped a double down the right field line that sent the speedy Siano all the way around to score. After Amendola grounded out, Drexel hit a sharp single to left - too sharp for Santana to move past third base. Mike Aldirch followed with an RBI single, and Wilmot sent a sacrifice fly out to right that scored Drexel. Matt Walker then stroked a double to left center to plate Aldrich and give Hartford a 4-1 lead.

The Hawks could not hold that advantage, though. Four Retriever runs crossed the plate in the fifth, all charged to the starter Mannuccia. The freshman pitched well just a day after pitching strong in relief, but faltered in the fifth.

Hartford will play a midweek game against in-state rival Connecticut on Tuesday, traveling to Storrs to play the Huskies. That game is set to get underway at 3 p.m. Hartford will be back home next weekend taking on Albany for a doubleheader at 1:30 on Saturday and a single game at 1 p.m. on Sunday.