4/9/2002 - Baseball
Navy Baseball Drops 7-4 Decision at UMBC
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BALTIMORE, Md. - The Navy baseball team fell to UMBC Tuesday afternoon, 7-4, at the UMBC Alumni Field. The game was called with one out in the top of the eighth inning due to poor playing conditions caused by a steady rain throughout the game.
"It is frustrating that the game got called due to rain because we felt like we were in position to come back and tie it up," Navy head coach Steve Whitmyer said. "I think our guys were ready and prepared to take the game to the end. Matt Farina pitched a good game for UMBC, especially with the weather elements today. He kept throwing strikes and in the rain, that is the most important thing to do as a pitcher. I think our pitching was very good at times today. It was good to see Matt Foster (Jr./Ventura, Calif.) come back off an injury, but we walked too many guys and that was the difference."
A Matt Lukevics (Fr./Tampa, Fla.) single to left field and a John Cocca (Sr./Whitehall, Pa.) double down the left field line put runners on second and third base for Navy in the top of the third inning. Jason Guidos' (Portland, Ore.) sacrifice fly to center scored Lukevics to give the Mids a 1-0 lead. Brad Hager (Jr./Delray Beach, Fla.) grounded out to second with runners on the corner to end the Navy threat.
Back-to-back errors by UMBC put Navy runners on the corner in the top of the fourth. Rusty Hearn (Jr./Lake Wales, Fla.) then hit into a double play, however Craig Candeto (So./Orange City, Fla.) came home to score from third, giving the Mids a 2-0 advantage.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, UMBC catcher Rick Guarno scored from third base on designated hitter Scott Kosmicky's bases-loaded ground out to second, trimming the Mids' lead to one. Navy reliever Tom Gritter (So./Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) struck out second baseman Dan Carpenter with runners on the second and third to end the inning.
UMBC (15-11) took its first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning on Guarno's double to left center off Gritter, scoring Jonathan Morgia and John Shuler from first and second base. Hot-hitting Retriever shortstop Jared Boyd then came to the plate and belted a two-run blast to center, his fourth home run of the season, to give UMBC a 5-2 lead.
Candeto blasted his third home run of the season for the Mids in the top of the sixth to center field off Farina.
The Retrievers added two runs in the bottom of the seventh on consecutive RBI-singles by Chris Yetter and Morgia, extending their lead to 7-3.
Candeto led the Mids, going 1-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored. Boyd led UMBC at the plate, batting 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs. On the mound, Gritter dropped to 0-2 with the loss, while Farina struck out eight batters to improve to 2-1 overall.
Navy (9-18) returns to the diamond tomorrow when the Mids travel to College Park, Md., to take on Maryland at 5 p.m.
