GAME ONE BOX SCORE
GAME TWO BOX SCORE
BALTIMORE, Md. – In the final day of the 2011 season, the University of Hartford baseball team split a doubleheader with UMBC, falling to the Retrievers 10-3 before scoring an 11-9 victory at Baseball Factory Field on Saturday. The Hawks conclude the campaign 6-43-1 (3-20 America East) while the Retrievers end the season with a mark of 10-37 (2-20 AE).
In game two, Hartford got some big hits in the opening frame. Brian Estevez got things started when he singled through the left side. After advancing to second on a wild pitch, he came around and scored on a double by Matt Walker. After Mike Suchy earned a walk with one down in the frame, Rodger Wilmot smacked a bases clearing double to left center field that pushed Hartford's lead to 3-0. In the following at-bat, Sorbara continued the rally when he roped a double down the right field line, scoring Wilmot and extending the Hawks' lead to four runs.
UMBC cut Hartford's lead to just one run with two in the first and one in the second before Alex Bulger provided a two-out RBI single in the top of the third to put the Hawks on top, 5-3. In the fourth, the Retrievers took their first lead of the contest at 6-5 following a two-run double by D.J. Ream and an RBI single off the bat of Max Himmelstein.
Hartford responded with and regained a one-run lead with two in the top of the fifth thanks to Suchy's lea- off home run and Bulger's second hit of the outing, this time an RBI double that plated Wilmot who doubled earlier in the stanza.
Facing the single run deficit in the seventh, Casey Medairy singled home pinch runner D.J. Smith to tie the game at seven before Hartford scored two in the final inning on a two RBI single by third baseman Jason Freethey. Vincent Fiore earned the win for the Hawks, allowing two runs on four hits in two innings.
In the opening game, the Retrievers jumped out to a 3-0 advantage in the bottom of the first as they cashed in on a lead-off walk by Rob McCabe and followed suit with three-straight hits to get on the scoreboard.
The Hawks grabbed one run back in the top of the second stanza as Suchy slammed a home run over the right centerfield wall but UMBC kept the bats going, striking again in the third with four scores. Ream led off the offensive explosion when he notched a single and reached third on a double by Himmelstein in the next at-bat. A single off the bat of Rick Phillips through the gap in the infield provided the Retrievers' third and fourth runs of the outing as it scored Ream and Himmelstein.
The Retrievers capped their four-run rally with two outs in the inning as Casey Medairy singled to score Brian Klukowicz before back-to-back walks issued by Veilleux loaded the bases and brought in the seventh run of the contest to push UMBC's lead to six.
UMBC put the game out of reach with three more runs in the bottom of the fifth. The Hawks managed to plate a pair in the top of the sixth when Ryan Lukach roped a triple, scoring Estevez who led off the frame with a single to centerfield. Walker's base hit with one down provided Hartford's final run of the game.
On the mound, Hawks' starter Kevin Veilleux suffered the loss, allowing seven runs in three innings of action.
