Box Score

PRINCESS ANNE, Md.-- As the regular season winds down, the Hawks baseball team faced off against their final non-conference foe, in-state rival UMBC for the first game of a home-and-home series. The Retrievers spoiled the last home game of the year on the UMES campus with an 8-0 win Wednesday.

UMES will finish their home stretch with an 8-8 record.

UMBC jumped out of the gate in the third inning. Mitchell Carroll doubled to lead off the inning and would open the scoring on an RBI by Vince Corbi. Andrew Casali drove home two more RBIs with a single. After the bases were loaded and the Hawks substituted a pitcher, Zack Bright emptied the sacks with a doubled that scored three. Before the half-inning was over, the Retrievers led 6-0.

After the visitors scored two more in the fifth, the Hawks got their chance to begin a comeback in the bottom half of the inning. One player reached on an error, sophomore Troy Anderson (Bridgeport, W.V.) walkesd and freshman Grayson Trower (Chesterfield, Va.) singled to load the bases. However, UMBC starter Kevin Little squashed the rally by inducing a flyout and groundout to maintain the shutout.

The Hawks would get runners on in the sixth and seventh without scoring. In the ninth, UMES enjoyed its finest moment of the game. Senior Nick Cooper (Delmar, Del.), starting in his final home game, reached on an error and was replaced by a pinch runner, receiving a nice ovation from the Hawk faithful.

Senior pitcher Michael Epps (Pottstown, Pa.) took the loss as the starter, but he also earned a cheer from the Hawk faithful as he exited the field.

The Hawks will have four more chances to improve on their best record since 2006 with three games at Delaware State this Saturday and Sunday, and one more game with UMBC Wednesday evening.