THE BASICS:

SERIES INFORMATION: Hartford Hawks (16-26, 10-5 AE) vs. UMBC Retrievers (18-20, 9-6 AE)
TIME: Saturday, May 5 at 12 P.M. (Doubleheader) and Sunday, May 6 at 1 P.M.
LOCATION: Fiondella Field (West Hartford, Conn.)
COVERAGE: Live Stats | Twitter: @HartfordBASE
 
FIRST PITCH
The University of Hartford baseball team wraps up their 2018 home-campaign with a three-game set against UMBC.  

SCOUTING UMBC                                                                       
The second-place team in the America East, the Retrievers have opened their season 18-20 overall and 9-6 in conference. Recently, UMBC swept Maine in a three-game set last weekend.  
 
All-TIME vs. THE RETRIEVERS
The Retrievers hold a slight 29-32 advantage in the all-time series. Early this season, UMBC took two of three against the Hawks in Baltimore.   
 
LAST TIME OUT
This past weekend, the Hawks took two of three from the River Hawks of UMass Lowell in West Hartford, before dropping a non-conference matchup with UMass at Dunkin' Donuts Park on Tuesday night.
 
#AEBASE AWARDS
Senior Nick Campana continued his impressive season at the plate, going 8-for-16 on the week, blasting five home runs in the Hawks four games last week to earned America East Player of the Week. He drove in nine runs and scoring twice, including a three-run, go-ahead run in the Hawks 6-3 victory over UMass Lowell on Saturday, April, 28.
 
Freshman Nicholas Dombkowski posted a stellar performance on the mound during the Hawks, 1-0 victory of Maine on March 24, to earn America East Co-Pitcher and Rookie of the Week. The native of West Springfield, Mass., threw eight shutout innings, striking out six Black Bears and only giving up five hits for his first career victory.
 
Sophomore Nathan Florence followed that up with a Pitcher of the Week performance of his own, throwing seven shutout innings, striking out a career-high twelve while only giving up four hits in the Hawks 2-1 victory over CCSU on March 31.


BARDZELL BOMB
Bardzell tied a career-high two home runs and four RBIs in the Hawks 13-11 win over Fairfield on February 28th. Bardzell leads the Hawks in Home runs (9), which sits him tied for third in the America East, and RBIs (32) which places him tied for fourth in the conference.
 
HOT BAT
Senior Nick Campana has continued his stellar season at the plate. He currently rides a 17-game hit streak, sits second in the America East and sits sixth in the nation with a .414 batting average, fourth in the conference in doubles with 14 and tied for fourth in RBIs with 32.  
 
POWERFUL PITCHING
The Hartford pitchers have been a force to be reckoned with this season, highlighted by junior Seth Pinkerton who ranks tied for second in saves (9) and fifth in opposing batting average (.158) while leading the conference in total strikeouts (61). Pinkerton's nine saves this season places his tied for the most in all-time in saves in a season, and his career total of 13 makes him the program leader in career saves.
 
LAST SEASON
The Hawks finished last season 20-30 overall and 8-13 in the America East before falling to Maine in the America East Tournament. Then-senior first baseman David MacKinnon, junior shortstop Ben Bengtson, and Bardzell were all named to the America East All-Conference First Team. It marked the second consecutive First Team selection for MacKinnon and Bengtson and the first for Bardzell.
 
TRIO OF CAPTAINS
In the fall, the team voted senior third baseman TJ Ward, redshirt-junior pitcher Jake Regula and Bardzell as the Hawks' team captains for the 2018 season. Ward, who will be serving his second season as team captain, started 38 games as a junior, ranking third on the team in RBI (32) and fifth in home runs (5). Regula appeared in 19 games on the hill for the Hawks this past season, making three starts and recording a pair of saves. Bardzell started 49 games in his sophomore campaign, leading the America East in RBIs (43), batting average (.343) and slugging percentage (.619), while lead the team in doubles (13), triples (5) and home runs (9) on his way to earning America East First Team All-Conference honors.
 
THE SHOW
A trio of Hawks were selected in the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft in June. Hawks catcher Erik Ostberg was taken by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 13th round, while shortstop Ben Bengtson went to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 23rd round and first baseman David MacKinnon was selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the 32nd round. Hartford now has 17 players drafted in program history and seven during head coach Justin Blood's tenure.
 
ALL-TIME WINNER
With the Hawks 5-3 victory over Maine on Friday, March 23, head coach Justin Blood became the all-time winningest coach in program history, passing the late Roger Wickman with 147 wins.
 
STAFF STRUCTURE
The majority Blood's coaching staff remains the same for the 2018 campaign, but the group has had some minor adjustments since last season. Associate head coach Steve Malinowski, who has been on Blood's staff since his arrival in Hartford, returns for his seventh season while assistant coach Elliot Glynn returns for his fourth season in the Hartford dugout.
 
Joining the staff this season is volunteer assistant coach Ethan Newton, who comes to Hartford from Allegany College where he served as the associate head coach for two seasons. Dr. David Miller also joins the Hawks this season as the Director of Baseball Analytics.
 
DUNKIN' DONUTS PARK   
The Hawks will host one more game inside Dunkin' Donuts Park, home of the Colorado Rockies AA affiliate Hartford Yard Goats. The Hawks will host Central Connecticut on Wednesday, May 16. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets.
 
NEXT ON TAP
The Hawks will return to action next weekend when they travel to Stony Brook, N.Y., for a three-game #AEBase set with the Seawolves starting on Saturday.