Ryan Gugel Leads University of Albany Baseball Past UMBC, 12-9, in America East Conference Action: UAlbany Athletics

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Baltimore, Md. – Ryan Gugel homered and drove in three runs to lead UAlbany to a 12-9 win over UMBC in America East Conference baseball action on Saturday, May 3 at The Baseball Factory Field at UMBC.

UAlbany (12-33-1, AE 7-12) scored eight runs over the first three innings to jump out to an 8-1 lead. Gugel singled up the middle in the first inning to start the scoring by driving in sophomore Brendan Rowland, who walked with two outs. Junior Gary Pitcheralle followed with single through the left side to plate senior Mike Konstanty, who singled following Rowland’s walk. In the second frame, senior Tom Zink led off with a double to left field. Pete Eichner followed by reaching on an error, allowing Zink to race home from second. Two batters later, junior Sean Donovan registered a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Eichner. The Great Danes blew the game open in the third with four runs on three hits and two errors. Pitcheralle reached on an error by the catcher and came around to score on freshman Kyle Crean’s single and an error on the right fielder. Eichner singled through the right side after an out to knock in Crean. Junior Dave West then blasted a two-run homer to left center.

UMBC (18-24, AE 10-9) cut into the lead with a single run in the third inning. With the bases loaded following an error, double and a walk to open the frame, Joe Fowler hit into a double play to plate Mark Lemon. UAlbany got the run back in its half of the fourth as Rowland and Gugel each doubled to center field around an out.

The Retrievers scored eight runs over their next three at-bats to close their gap to 11-9. Joe Fowler started the rally with a two-run homer to left center in the fifth inning. In the sixth, Steve Russo and Lemon were each hit by pitches with one out. Following a fly out and a single by Scott Peddicord to load the bases, Russo scored on a wild pitch. After Fowler drew a walk to reload the bases, Lemon scored on an error by the first baseman. Two batters later, Shawn Retz plated Peddicord and Fowler with a single to left field.

UAlbany got two runs back in the top of the seventh on a pair of sacrifices. Eichner opened the inning with a walk and came home from first as West reached third on an error by the pitcher on his sacrifice bunt attempt. Donovan followed with his second sac fly of the contest to knock in West. UMBC narrowed the UAlbany lead to two with a pair of runs in the home half of the seventh. After Tom Meaney and Russo each doubled to open the frame, Lemon knocked in Meaney with a groundout to second. Two batters later, Peddicord drove in Russo with a single through the right side. Gugel capped the game’s scoring with a solo blast to right field to lead off the eighth inning.

Freshman right-hander Dave Kubiak picked up his third win of the season, striking out three over 5.2 innings, while allowing seven runs (three earned) on six hits. Junior Sean Gregory pitched the final 3.1 innings, yielding two runs on five hits, to record his second save. Dave Divita took the loss for the Retrievers, giving up nine runs (three earned) on nine hits over four innings.

The Great Danes and the Retrievers wrap up the four-game series on Sunday, May 4 at 12 p.m.
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UAlbany (12-33-1, AE 7-12) 224 100 210 - 12 11 2
UMBC (18-24, AE 10-9) 001 024 200 - 9 11 5
UAlbany: Dave Kubiak (W, 3-0), Sean Gregory (6, S, 2) and Ryan Gugel.
UMBC: Dave Divita (L, 3-5), Mike Fitzpatrick (5), Ryan Morse (7), Travis Pearson (8) and Tom Meaney.